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SPECIAL SECTION 

Beatinq 

i n€ COUI**ODS 

16 pages!! 



K48964 

MARCH 1983 

US $2.95 

Canada $3.25 







The Heat Goes On >■ 

VIDEO GRMES OH TRIM i 



■ * 

0^ *Jfl 










PLUS Ratinq the Joysticks. 

Morlds Cheapest TV- Game System. 

bert Takes Chicago 




Introducing "JOURNEY ESCAPE/' the challenging new DATA AGE. Video Game. 

You're on the road with America s hottest rock group. Journey. And they're count- 
ing on you. You 're the only player who can help Journey make it to their scarab escape 
vehicle. Only you can outsmart the promoters, avoid the photographers and fight off 
the love-crazed groupies. If you can handle it! 

It's a tough game. As Journey says, "Some will win, some will lose ...' 
Are you hot enough to play with Journey? Don 't stop believin. ' Get your JOURNEY 
ESCAPE video game today! 

DATA AGE. Video Games - 

fortheAtarr Video A 
Game System and W 
Sears' Tele-Games* / 
Video Arcade™ / 



DATAAEE 



VR 













£ S C A P £ 




w. 



w 




A 



ForthtAWW VUto Game Sntam and 
StnWe-Gamaf VUaoAjca* 



W, YOU'VE HAD IT EASY. 





Volume 1, Number 6 March im.k^ 

FEATURES 

Special VIDEO GAMES Interview: The Great Debate 21 

Three noted psychologists, an industry representative and a community activist speak can- 
didly about the pros and cons of video games. Howard Mandcl chairs the discussion. 

Intruder Alert! 26 

What the coin-op industry desperately needs is some good old-fashioned public relations to 
ward off its sundry critics. Ray Tilley tells about two such campaigns. 

Welcome to the Club 51 

Women arc entering the video game business like never before. Anne Krucger talks woman- 
to-woman with several of these pioneers, including game designers Janice Hendricks (Joust) 
and Dona Bailey (Centipede), and explodes a few myths along the way. 

Rating the Joysticks 58 

It seems there are as many new game controllers as there are games. Perry Greenberg reviews 
a bunch. 

SPECIAL SECTION 

BEATING THE TOP 15 COIN-OPS 35 

Video whiz Mike Blanchet hates a low score as much as the next gamer, so he's compiled tips 
on how-to-play just about every hot video in your local arcade (Super Pac-Man. Joust and 
Millipede to name a few), plus a couple of classics. 

DEPARTMENTS 

HYPERSPACE 6 

A few words of hype from the editor. 

DOUBLE SPEAK 10 

Some words of advice from our readers. 

BLIPS 12 

Apollo tumbles back to earth, MAGI creates a computer TV ad for Fox Games, Children's 
Computer Workshop edu-games are on the way, Columbia University holds a seminar. Play 
Meier reviews 1982, Topps and Fleer battle for bubblegum card rights, Mattel plays 
hardware with the competition, RMH Enterprises' Sourcebook for Astrocaders. Plus, a 
quote of the month and an update or two, 

COIN-OP SHOP 65 

John Holmstrom thought he reached Nirvana, but it was only Chicago, host of the AMOA 
annual convention last November. 

SOFT SPOT 69 

Ace strategist Phil Wiswell offers tips for playing 10 new cartridges. 

HARD SELL 73 

The TV-game system nobody knows is the subject of this article. Roger Dionne samples 
Zircon's Channel F not a moment too soon. 

BULL'S-EYE 75 

David Lcibowitz explains why Imagic's public offering created so much excitement. 

SCORE! 76 

There's a pot of gold at the end of most video game tournaments. 

COMIC RELIEF 78 

"The Zydroid Legion" returns. By Matt Howarth & Lou Stathis. 

BRIEFS 80 

This means war! Atari takes on lmagic and Coleco. 

STATS 82 



page 52 



Cover illustration by Leslie Cabarga 



INA SYNDROME": 

PERIENCE A 
ELT-DOWN! 




MODEL SA-205 

Overheated reactor! Devastating particles' Damaged core? And the unthinkable- meltdown! 
ft has all the makings of a catastrophe . . . and one of the most exciting new video games ever. 

For years, the nuclear power plant at Spectra Island has provided safe energy. Now. an 
earthquake has changed all that. The lives in Spectraville are now in your hands. Dangerous par- 
ticles must be contained. The Decontamination Diffusion Vacuum must be moved quickly. It's 
challenging, and at times, frustrating. But it must be done to prevent a major disaster 

bke all games from Spectra vision ™. China Syndrome'" is incredibly lifelike. With more 
realistic sound effects. More colorful graphics. More action and challenge Varied skill levels Even 
an introductory demonstration of tt^e game. So try new Chii 
there's only one word for rt's realism — unreal 



VKXO GAMf CAOTHDGt 

ChiNA 

SyncIrome 



xmvis/ff/ 



" avlslon Video Game* 
the Atari™ VCS System and 
Sears Video Arcade 1 " 



39 W. 37th Street, New York, NY 10018 



r K*2 SPECTRA VIDEO. INC 



■ Atari vCS™ Is a registered trademark of ATARI. Inc. ' Sears Video Arcode is a trademark of Sears Roeouck & Co 



Video games are under attack. Either it's angry community groups 
attempting to banish arcades, doctors with questionable resumes 
speculating on the games' ill effects or Wall Street analysts predicting their 
usual Easter basket of gloom and doom. Let's face it — we're getting it from 
all sides. 

In this sixth issue of VIDEO GA MES we have tried to take the bull by its 
horns and discuss matters sensibly. Industry veteran Ray Tilley examines 
some of the techniques now being used to polish up the arcades on a very 
local level in "Intruder Alert!" (page 26). And Howard Mandel assembled 
an authoritative panel of observers, including Doctors Joyce Brothers and 
Philip Zimbardo, for a round table session ("The Great Debate," page 21 ) 
that does anything but pull punches. I'm particularly proud of this presen- 
tation since it proves beyond a doubt that we're not afraid to provide a 
forum for opinions we may not share. Expect to see more of the same from 
us in the future. 

And expect to see more editorializing in this column. As video games 
receive increasing coverage in the press, there is a greater need for perspec- 
tive. I am specifically referring to the recent spate of articles which followed 
Warner Communications' announce- 
ment that fourth-quarter earnings for '82 
would be less than anticipated. In other 
words, for the first time in three years 
Atari wouldn't be carrying Warner on 
the ledger sheets. The consequences for 
the industry as a whole, in my opinion, 
were blown totally out of proportion. 

To understand this whole mess, you 
have to know something about how 
Wall Street works, which admittedly I 
know little about. The little I do know, 
however, is that analysts have been 
predicting a so-called "shakeout" in the business for about a year. What 
happens if a shakeout doesn't take place? The analysts will look pretty darn 
foolish, to say the least. So Atari makes its announcement, coupled with 
news of an executive shake-up and an impending legal war with Coleco, 
and suddenly video game properties begin to take a dive. Worse, Imagic, 
forced to run scared, postpones its much-awaited public offering. 

The honest truth of the whole matter is Atari is still making gains — 
however modest they may be in comparison to the company's meteoric 
growth — while competition, at least in the consumer end of the business, is 
blooming. Coleco, Activision, Imagic and Parker Brothers all had great 
success in '82, yet Wall Street is upset. Reportedly, the analysts are sore 
about Warner backing down from its predictions. If the analysts had only 
stopped to look at the realities of the situation — everyone knows Atari's 
coin-op division is slumping, the computer division is still waiting to turn a 
profit, and adventure games like Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T., despite 
their famous names, will never sell like a Pac-Man or Space Invaders — 
Warner's announcement would not have come as such a terrific surprise. 

But Wall Street has a prophesy to fulfill— the collapse of the video game 

business. They're working on it, they're working on it. . . . 

* * * 

More on VG #6: Back to the fun— that is, the games. John Holmstrom 
reports on his visit to Chicago for the annual trade show in Coin-op Shop, 
Roger Dionne takes a look at the world's cheapest TV-game system in 
Hard Sell, Phil Wiswell offers some needed game tips in Soft Spot, Mike 
Blanchet takes you on a winner's tour of the latest coin-ops in "Beating the 
Top 15 Arcade Games," and Perry Greenberg rates a dozen joysticks 
starting* on page 58. By all means, enjoy! ^fc 





Publisher 

Chen N. Low 



Editor 

Steve Bloom 

Managing Editor 

Sue Adamo 

Associate Editor 
Perry Greenberg 

Senior Editor 

David Smith 

Contributing Editors 

Roger Dionne 
John Holmstrom 

Editorial Assistant 
Michael Fine 



Art Director 

Bob Sefcik 



Advertising Director 
Jason Boda 

Advertising Manager 

Bob Gardener 

West Coast Advertising Manager 

Bruce E. Thomsen 

Tel: (714) 481-8442 
Circulation Consultant 

John F. Hayes 

Assistant to the Publisher 

Jan Mittelmark 

Contributors 
Peter Bagge, Michael Blanchet, 
Mark Caparosa, Paul Chadwick, 

Rob Gray, Bob Greenberger, 

Stephen Hanks, Matt Howarth, 

Steve Kagan, Richard Kriegler, 

Anne Krueger, David Leibowitz, 

Sarah Longacre, Howard Mandel, 

Josh Martin, Suzan Prince, 

Andy Probert, Victoria Rouse, 

Lou Stathis, Andrea Stone, Roy Trakin, 

Ken Uston, Dana Ventura, Ken Weiner, 

Gene Williams, Phil Wiswell 

VIDEO GAMES is published monthly by 
PUMPKIN PRESS Inc., 350 Fifth Avenue, 
Suite 6204, New York, N.Y. 10118. Under 
Universal International and Pan American 
Copyright Conventions. Reproductions of 
editorial or pictorial content in any manner is 
prohibited. No responsibility will be accepted 
for unsolicited material. All such material 
must be accompanied by sufficient first class 
postage. Single copy price $2.95, Subscription 
rate $30.00 for one year (12 issues), Canada 
$35.00. Application for Second Class Reques- 
ter pending at C.P.O., New York, N.Y. and 
additional mailing offices. 



6 VIDEOGAMES 



vggffi y ^^^w^^^^^^^^^^^^^ i ^^;/_0 



V, 




Tfte ftot new 6attfc game tftat dares you to cross 
tfte blazing Bridge of Fire to do battle with 
the Master of Darkness— Satan of the HoOowl 



% 




OMfymZt/M 







JZZ 



The I )ark Scrotts warn of the perils 
of Satan's hottow. He, the Prince of 
I )arkness> reigns over an infenud 
undens'orid so a6fiorrent; the gro- 
tesque gargoyles who safeguard his 
(air cower at his ciovetihoofed 
approach* TlS lie vi'/io rules 
supremefy his domain, by twisted 
swiils of flame and obedient 
creatures so wretched) no mortaf 
aaretfi traverse the Bridge of Death 
crossing the River of Fire. 
Beware him. He is darhtess, he is 
the omnipotent demon Lucifer) lie is 
SATAN OF THE HOLLOW. 





88% Preferred Intellivisiorf 



2% Preferred Atari! 



APPARENTLY, 
GEORGE PLIMPTON 

ISN'T THE ONLY 

ONE WHO CAN SEE 

THE DIFFERENCE. 



13 :D3 

1st 



Ki » » 



I I I I 



lit II 



20 30 



1st and 1Q on 



75% Preferred Intellivision. 




2% Preferred Atari. 



Mr. Plimpton, bless him, has been quick to point out toTV 
viewers just how wonderful Intellivision graphics and gameplay are. 

But who better than baseball and football fans to compare 
Atari* sports games with ours? 

As you can see from the independent research figures shown?* 
baseball and football fans were well and truly on our side. 

It just goes to prove what weVe said all along. 

Intellivision NFL* Football and Major League* Baseball are the 
closest thing to the real thing. 

While weVe on the subject of the real thing, we'd like to tell 
you about an exciting new addition that will make playing your 
Intellivision even more lifelike: 

Lifelike voices. Provided by the new IntelliVoice™ module. 

IntelliVoice, sold separately, adds a whole new dimension of 
reality to our games and will be available later in the year. 

But IntelliVoice is just one of many reasons to buy Intellivision. 

Already we offer a better designed system with greater 
attention to detail. 

Our lifelike players make our sports games more realistic 
than Atari. 

Or as Buying and Beating the Home Video Gaines author Ken Uston 
says, "Intellivision graphics are unsurpassed!' 

Our sophistication makes the games more challenging. 

Radio Electronics Magazine echoes this: "Intellivision has placed 
more emphasis on strategy and realism than any other game system'.' 

Our hand controller has 16 positions, so youVe able to 
maneuver players and objects in more directions with greater 
precision and accuracy than with the Atari controller. 

Our library of cartridges is growing fast, as is our popularity 
among video game experts. 

With special introductions to come, like Tron:* Deadly Discs"" 
from the Walt Disney movie. 

All this attention to detail makes all the difference in the 
world to people who already own MATTEL £LECTR0niC5® 

,V If you visit your local dealer, | NlELU VISION 

you'll see the difference, too. Intelligent Television 

"Trademark used under license from designated owner "Based on interviews with 300 baseball and 300 football fans who were shown unbranded sequences from four 
video games 10% supported the other two baseball games and 23% supported the other two football games ""Tron is a trademark owned by and used under license 
from Walt Disney Productions ©Mattel. Inc 1982. All Rights Reserved Atan'is a trademark of Atari, Inc. 




ColecoVision Views 

I would like to make some comments 
about Michael Blanchet's article on 
ColecoVision (Hard Sell, January is- 
sue). In it he states that Expansion 
Modules #1 and 2 sell for $90 each. 
Well, I just bought Module #2 for $65. 
This price isn't even that much if you 
consider that it comes with a cartridge 
and that it improves any racing game, 
such as Turbo, to an amazing extent. 
And, yes, Coleco will be marketing 
more cartridges for use with Module 
#2. The first of these will be Exidy's 
Destruction Derby. 

Noam Bramson 
New Rochelle, N.Y. 

I am a happy owner of ColecoVision. 1 
noticed one thing that was overlooked 
in your ColecoVision review. Mike 
Blanchet noted that Atari joysticks 
and paddles can be used with Expan- 
sion Module # 1 . What he failed to note 
is that the Atari joystick can be plugged 
into the ColecoVision master compo- 
nent itself! The stick can be used in all 
games that use one action button. 
Please note this in your next issue. I'm 
sure it will relieve many sore thumbs. 
Tim McMahon 
Riverdale, 111. 
Thanks for the info, guys. Guess what? 
There are about a dozen other sticks 
that plug into Coleco Vision. See 
"Rating the Joysticks," by Perry 
Greenberg on page 58. — Ed. 

Back to Basics 

I got the fourth issue of VIDEO 
GA MES. but could not find your third 
issue. Do you sell back issues? 

Larry McKinney 
Adamstown, Pa. 

Yes, sir. Send $4.00 for our premiere 
issue and $3.00 for the others to our 



address and any back issue can be 
yours. — Ed. 

One Mo' Club 

If you plan to run an update of the 
article, "Are You Game Enough to 
Join a Club?" (Blips, December issue), 
please include "Clubhouse," a bi- 
monthly newsletter some friends and 1 
have begun. By joining the United 
Videogame Association, you receive 
the newsletter plus extras for one year. 
To join, send a $5 check or money 
order to me at 104 Millstone Circle, 
Courtland, Va. 23837. 

George Perry 
Editor 

Yes, "Clubhouse "is for real. The news- 
letter we received is five xeroxed pages 
long and features an interview with 
none other than Eugene Jarvis. But 
we're still wondering about those 
"extras. " — Ed. 

Handyman 

I'm good with electronics and enjoy 
building my own controllers for the 
Atari VCS. Can you tell me a good 
small-quantity source for arcade-style 
buttons? 

Bryan Small 
Oswego, N.Y. 

Contact either Switchcraft at 5555 N. 
Elston Ave.. Chicago, III. 60630, or 
Gray hi II at 561 Hill Grove Ave., La 
Grange, III. 60525 to see if either has a 
distributor in your area. Perhaps other 
hobbyists out there have some other 
sources. Let us know. — Ed. 



Cable and Willing 

I saw a TV commercial advertising 
PlayCable for the Intellivision system, 
but it still left me with some questions. 



Who makes it? Where can it be bought? 
How much does it cost? Does it carry 
games made by Imagic, Coleco and 
Activision as well as games by Mattel? 
Dave Playford 
Brockville, Ont. 

Dave Smith's article, "Playing Games 
With Cable, " in our February issue 
should have answered all of your ques- 
tions. No, PlayCable does not carry 
Imagic, Coleco or Activision games. 
—Ed. 

Southern Discomfort 

I have a complaint about something I 
read in your January issue. Speaking 
as an Alabamian with a good deal of 
Southern pride, I'd like to say that 
anyone who's smart enough to stick a 
quarter in a machine should know that 
North Carolina is NOT the Cotton 
State (SCORE! column). The Cotton 
State is none other than Alabama. 
North Carolina, incidentally, is the 
Tarheel State. I enjoy your magazine 
very much and am only trying to set 
things straight. 

Jeff Lisenby 
Prattville, Ala. 

Our apologies to natives of Alabama 
and North Carolina for this mis- 
nomer. — Ed. 

Module Operandi 

Is there any truth to the rumor that 
Atari is taking legal action against 
Coleco to prevent the production of 
the Expansion Module #1? 

Vaughn Greenlees 
Denver, Col. 

Matter of fact there is. Atari is claim- 
ing that the module that allows you to 
use Atari-compatible carts is an in- 
(Continued on page 76) 



10 VIDEOGAMES 







Engineered and designed by Namco. Lid Manufactured under license by Alan. Inc 



A 

ATARI 

CommonicaliOOf. C 



© 1982 Atari. Inc. All rights reserved 




IBUPS1 




Games by Apollo lUmbles Back to Earth 



In Wabbit, the latest release 
of Games by Apollo, a des- 
perate farmer goes to great 
lengths to protect his carrot 
crop from an army of hungry 
rabbits. Only by scaring off 
the critters can he save his 
crop from total destruction. 
Little did Wabbit's design- 
er know how prescient his 
game would be. Last Novem- 
ber, Apollo filed a petition 
for reorganization under 
Chapter 1 1 of the Federal 
Bankruptcy Code. The com- 
pany will now have to fend 
off quite a few creditors as it 
tries to save its cartridges 
from extinction. 

Apollo fans will still be 
able to buy the company's 
cartridges— for awhile at 
least — because existing retail 
orders are being filled. But 
the supply won't last forever. 
Until the firm shows signs of 
recovery, says Lois Levin, a 
spokesperson for Apollo, no 
new production, advertising 
or distribution will be under- 
taken. 

In the meantime, a court- 
appointed trustee will han- 
dle the company's finances 
and arrange for the repay- 
ment of creditors while a 
search for new financial sup- 
port is conducted. So far no 
new backers have been found. 
What happened to Apollo? 
Some observers and indus- 
try insiders blame Apollo 
management for some key 
errors. As one insider put it, 
Pat Roper, Apollo's presi- 
dent and founder, "went a 
little too far too fast." It was 
only about a year ago that 
Apollo expanded its office 
and plant. And last July, 

12 VIDEOGAMES 




The company's logo features a stallion rearing back in defiance. Here, the horse appears beaten 
down, though it is not necessarily out of the race. 



after announcing revenues 
of $7 million during the com- 
pany's first nine months of 
existence, Roper bullishly pre- 
dicted that sales for 1982 
would reach $30 million. But 
the outlook quickly went 
sour. 

In October, the Dallas- 
based company began lay- 
ing off its nearly 300 em- 
ployees as debts kept piling 
up. Apollo, founded in Oc- 
tober 1981, had been con- 
tinually draining capital from 
its parent company. National 
Career Consultants, an 11- 
year-old audiovisual firm. 

"Now both units are on 
rather shaky ground because 
of Apollo's high production 
and marketing costs," says 
Levin. 



But others associated with 
the video game industry say 
Apollo's woes are only the 
symptoms of larger prob- 
lems—market saturation, 
high production costs, and 
severe competition— that are 
likely to sink other compan- 
ies along the way. 

"The cost of getting into 
this business is basically low," 
says Frank Mainero, vice- 
president of marketing at 
Activision. "But the cost of 
competing is high." More 
than 400 games are currently 
on store shelves. 

Another vice-president, 
who requested anonymity, 
believes poor distribution is 
at the core of Apollo's crisis. 
"It was distribution for sure," 
the executive says. "Every- 



one's out there fighting for 
shelf space, and subsequently, 
for survival." A tiny company 
like Apollo, whose manage- 
ment has no experience in 
consumer products, faces an 
uphill struggle against old- 
line established companies 
like Parker Brothers and Co- 
leco, which have powerful 
distribution channels through 
toy stores, mass merchan- 
disers, and specialty outlets. 
Besides Roper, who was 
not available for comment, 
only Bill Yankie, vice-presi- 
dent and general manager, 
remains of Apollo's brass. 
The new games for release 
include Infiltrate, Guardian, 
Kyphus, and that silly, pro- 
phetic cartridge, Wabbit. 

— Suzan Prince 







V 








OUGHT 



What's the matter, Dan? Having a 
little trouble keeping up with 
Imagic's" new game Dragonfire"'? 

But we thought you were so 
tough, so cool. 

We never thought an expert 



much trouble sneaking * 
over the drawbridge 
to the castle. 

Just look at you 
jumping and ducking 
and dodging that 
Dragonlire. Why, it we 
didn't know better, 6 

© 1982 Imagic. Inc. For Atari 2600 " and 




we'd say you were scared out ot 
your pantaloons. 

Well, surprise, surprise. You made 
it inside the castle. Let's see how 
fast you can swipe that treasure 
before you get hit by the dragon's 
fireballs. 
Ouch!!! Ooooch!! Aghhh!! 
Shame on you! At this rate, Dan, 
you're not even going to make it 
past the first level. 

You should know by now that 
Dragonlire and all Imagic games 
are created by experts 
J for experts. 

And frankly, Danny 
1 boy, you just don't 
. qualify 



IMAGIC 



Created by experts for experts. 



BUM 



Worm Wars I Ad Has That MAGI Touch 



The problem: how to make 
the TV ad campaign for the 
new game. Worm Wars 1. 
really stand out. Frank J. 
O'Connell, president of Fox 
Video Games, wanted some- 
thing different. The produc- 
ers at BBD&O, the ad firm 
hired by Fox, wanted some- 
thing" Tronesque." So, about 
a week after Tron was re- 
leased. BBD&O contacted 
Richard Taylor, the man who 
led the special effects team 
for the film and who is the 
senior creative director at 
Mathematical Applications 
Group, Inc. (MAGI). 

"They had the lyrics to the 
song which I thought was a 
great little piece of music," 
Taylor recalls. "It was really 
new wave, had a beat to it, and 
everything. I designed the 
cuts and the action to the 
music, storyboarded the thing 
up. and went back to them in 
two weeks. They approved it 
immediately." 

Taylor designed the com- 
mercial at the MAGI/Syn- 
thevision (a MAGI subsi- 
diary) facilities in Santa 
Monica, Calif, with some 
help from his colleagues back 
east at MAGl's Elmsford, 
N.Y. offices. The actual com- 
puting was done "bi-coast- 
ally" between both sites. "As 
you know. Worm Wars is 
played on an Atari system- 
it's a two-dimensional game 
and not very exciting, really." 
Taylor says. "So I came up 
with the concept of cutting 




These scenes from the spot are reminiscent of 'Tron. Says Taylor: 
"It's a fantasy version of the game. " 
between a three-dimensional video game-related accounts. 



reality that was a fantasy 
version of the game as it's 
played." The final result, 95 
percent computer-generated, 
is a stunning high-resolution 
30-second spot that rivals 
some of the scenes in Tron. 
MAGI is working on other 



including a commercial for 
an upcoming Mountain Dew 
soda contest in which a Co- 
lecoVision. tabletop Coleco 
games, cartridges, and a 
Pengo arcade game will be 
given away. 

" I n this commercial." Tay- 



lor explains, "a kid comes 
into a general store and puts 
a quarter into the Mountain 
Dew machine. The machine 
turns into a spacecraft around 
him and takes him off to an 
electronic game fantasy world 
that is a computer-simulated 
reality. Part of the game is 
shooting down bottlecaps and 
winning these prizes. In the 
end, the spaceship flies back 
into this general store and 
de-rezzes. The kid falls onto 
the floor by a display for the 
game. It's an interpretation 
of an electronic game world, 
but it's also a way to get 
across the information about 
the prizes." 

Another MAGI project is 
the ad for a 3-D, binocular- 
type stand-alone game by 
Tomy. This 30-second jour- 
ney begins with the game 
floating out of a grid, setting 
up the viewer for a tour 
through the eyepieces and 
into the three games as they 
actually appear. Incidentally. 
MAGI created the visuals 
for the Zaxxon ad. the first 
coin-op video TV commer- 
cial ever made. Though Tay- 
lor has been approached 
about designing an actual 
video game, he has so far re- 
sisted, preferring to maintain 
the company's emphasis on 
feature film production. "We 
may get involved in electronic 
games someday," he says. 
"But at this point we just 
want to be good filmmakers." 
— Sue Ada mo 



Edu -Games: See the Cookie Monster Run 



WW hat's the matter with kids 
today? They're playing too 
many video games, of course. 
But several companies who 
know a thing or two about 
kids today arenlt about to 
ignore the potential of the 
games. In an all-out effort to 
make education fun, they 
are designing learning exer- 
cises and dressing them up in 

14 VIDEOGAMES 



game-playing clothes. 

Inspired by the success of 
the computer games devel- 
oped for its two Sesame 
Place Play Parks. Children's 
Television Workshop recent- 
ly created Children's Com- 
puter Workshop (CCW). 
Working with Atari, CCW's 
first edu-games, including 
Oscar's Trash Race, Cookie 



Monster Munch. Alpha 
Beam, Grover's Music Maker 
and Big Bird's Egg Catch, 
will be available in May. 
Paul B. Firstenberg, CCW 
president, says these games 
will be "discovery-oriented, 
non-violent, and will blend 
entertainment and learning 
opportunities. Our overall 
goal is to encourage broad 



use of a child's intelligence." 
Mike Moone, president of 
Atari's Consumer Electron- 
ics division, is particularly 
excited about the project. 
"We'll open up a whole area 
of children's software which 
1 think will be a rocket ship," 
he predicts. "I'd double any- 
body's wildest guess and say 
that will probably be the size 
of the industry." 

Atari plans to release a 
minimum of 10 CCW games 



MIPS 



this year, says Moone. Half 
are being geared to three-to- 
six year olds and the other 
half to seven-to-10 year olds. 
Four games are designed for 
the VCS while six are being 
prepared for the new 5200 
system. 

If you'd rather not wait till 
May, check into three edu- 
games North American Phi- 
lips recently introduced for 



Milliken Publishing, the 
leading publisher of compu- 
ter software for schools, be- 
gan a consumer product line. 
EduFun!. last spring. With 
two games included on each 
cassette or diskette, the line 
kicked off with 12 MathFun! 
programs, including Alien- 
counter, a science fiction 
counting game; Face Flash, 
a visual memory and count- 




its Odyssey Voice Series. In 
Nimble Numbers Ned, devel- 
oped in conjunction with the 
College of Education at the 
University of Tennessee, a 
correct solution to a math 
problem sets off a barrel- 
jumping game. The Voice 
talks the player through each 
step, gives instructions, asks 
for responses, repeats the 
problem, and offers congrat- 
ulations. Sid the Spellbinder 
combines an electronic spell- 
ing bee and a Centipede- 
type shoot-'em-up. Type & 
Tell is used for spelling prac- 
tice, learning sentence struc- 
ture, and vocabulary drills. 



ing game (both for five-to- 1 2 
year olds); and Frenzy, in 
which you can save fish from 
a hungry alligator through 
quick subtraction and di- 
vision. 

This spring, EduFun! will 
introduce four WordFun! 
games, including: Snake-O- 
Nyms. an antonym/ synonym 
game; Sky Writer, in which 
a player manipulates a bi- 
plane through clouds in 
search of compound words; 
and Word Flip, a Concentra- 
tion-type game in which 
players build words by look- 
ing for their stems and roots 
behind tiles. At the moment. 



these games are available only 
for the Apple and Atari com- 
puters. Vic-20 and Texas In- 
strument 99/4 A versions are 
next on Milliken's agenda. 
(For more info write: Mil- 
liken Publishing, EduFun! 
Division, 1100 Research 
Blvd., St. Louis. Mo. 63 132.) 
The Learning Company 
(TLC) has six kid-videos for 
Apple owners as well. There's 
Gertrude's Puzzles, featuring 
a go-getter goose who begins 
each screen by flying off and 
returning with a set of shapes 
which you form into geo- 
metric patterns; Gertrude's 
Secrets, in which puzzles are 
solved by arranging game 
5 pieces; Rocky's Roots, in 
I which the object is to build a 
g point-scoring logic machine 

while learning about basic 
fcomputer circuitry; and 

1 Bumble Games, a set of six 
| colorful number exercises 
= starring Bumble, a creature 

from the planet Furrin. 

"The playful nature of the 
software," explains TLC pre- 
sident Jack Smyth, "main- 
tains the interest of the child 
while providing a stimulat- 
ing and useful learning ex- 
perience." (For more into 
write: TLC. 4370 Alpine Rd., 
Portola Valley, Calif. 94025.) 

Kids have a say in devel- 
oping these edu-games. 
CCW, TLC and Milliken 
child test their products in 
schools across the country. 
TLC pays special attention 
to 11-year-old Corrine 
Grimm's suggestions. She's 
the youngest member of their 
graphic artists pool. 



No, But 
Seriously . . . 

Are video games serious 
business? 

Apparently the computer 
science department of Co- 
lumbia University in New 
York believes they are. as it 
sponsored a day-long video 
game seminar with Atari Re- 
search on Dec. 3. 

About 300 people— gung- 
ho computer science stu- 
dents, avid game players, 
industry representatives, and 
the press — gathered at Co- 
lumbia's Morningside 
Heights campus to hear 
Steve Mayer, Atari's vice- 
president of research and 
development; Chris Craw- 
ford, manager of Atari's 
game research group; crea- 
tive consultant Chris Cerf; 
and Warren Robinett, co- 
founder of The Learning 
Company. 

Much of the seminar fo- 
cused on the state of the art. 



— Lois Cant well 



UpdateUpdateUpdateUpd; 



F irebug, the Apple 1 1 game 
that some fire officials were 
afraid would encourage arson 
(Jan. '83 VIDEOGAMES). 
has metamorphosed into Fire- 
fly. The graphics remain the 
same, but the game descrip- 
tion now challenges players 
to move a firefly through an 
electric trap before its trail- 



ing light catches up to it. The 
fly can score points by short- 
circuiting the trap with water 
droplets it picks up and re- 
leases along the way. Muse, 
the game's manufacturer, 
revised Firebug after it 
learned the game had of- 
fended some people. . .In the 
beginning there was Jungle 



King, which begat Jungle 
Hunt (Feb. issue). Recently. 
Taito America released 
Pirate Pete, a swashbuckling 
version of the former games. 
Taito's Keith Egging says a 
market research firm in- 
formed the company that 
some players might not be so 
enchanted with a jungle 
theme, hence the pirate sce- 
nario. — Michael Fine 




Chris Crawford 

Mayer revealed Atari was 
considering cable-TV as a 
future vehicle for video 
games; Robinett said that 
the subject of digital logic, 
once taught only at the uni- 
versity level, can now be 
learned through games at a 
much younger age; Crawford 
predicted that computer 
games would develop into a 
"fantastic art form, but not 
overnight"; and Cerf said he 
was excited about the pros- 
pects of media people, musi- 
cians, and writers joining 
together as they gradually 
discover the compatibility of 
computer games and tradi- 
tional forms of communica- 
tion. —Anne Krueger 

VIDEOGAMES 15 



IFYOU OWN A COMMODORE VIC YOU 
KNOW iT CAN DO ALL THIS. 




■NSE 
<DAR 



BASIC 
PROGRAMMING 



WORD 
PROCESSING 




PERSONAL 
FINANCE 



tfl~ . ■? « - 
«!->• I 1 I .-Jo nov 



VISIBLE 
SOLAR SYSTEM 



>ING 
TOR 



BINGO/ 

SPEED MATH 



HOME 
BABYSITTER 



- 



ADVENTURE 
LAND 




BIORHYTHMS 




ME 

ITORY 



COSMIC 
CRUNCHER 



SUPER 
SMASH 



RADAR 
RAT RACE 



JUPITER 
LANDER 






^pS^Ok^>9cbT 




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5" 


a j»~, r wi 








CHESS 



VIC AVENGER 



GORF 



OMEGA RACE 



and Dow Jones News/ 
Retrieval Service," a free trial 
offer on The Source, 5 " and a 
discount program offer with 
Comp-U-Store and General 
Videotex Corp. 

Let's see. Did we leave 
anything out? Oh, yes. Along 
with CompuServe comes a 
free membership in the 
Commodore Information Net- 
work. This is your HOTLINE to 
Commodore. (How often do 
you get to speak directly to a 
manufacturer?) Through it we 

Certain offers subiect to change CompuServe is a trademark of CompuServe. Inc and H & R Block Co Oow Jones News'Retneval Service is a registered trademark, 
of Dow Jones & Co . Inc The Source is a service mark of Source Telecomputing Corporation, a subsidiary of Reader's Digest Corporation. Inc 



What those extra few dol- 
lars get you is a simple little 
device called a Commodore 
VICMODEM. 

It connects your tele- 
phone to your VIC 20™ or 
Commodore 64™ computer 
(resulting in something aptly 
called telecomputing), giving 
you access to information 
such as you see on the 
screens to your right. 

Normally you'd have to 
type a short program into 
your computer to help it make 



the final transition into a 
telecomputer. 

However; when you buy a 
VICMODEM, you'll find we've 
included a free software pro- 
gram. You just load it into your 
Commodore Datassette 
Recorder, and presto (give or 
take a moment or two), you 
have access to a vast library 
of information and games. 

Speaking of free, 
Commodore also includes a 
free subscription and a free 
hour's time on CompuServe™ 



BUT DID YOU KNOW FOR ABOUT $100 
YOU CAN ALSO GET IT TO DO ALLTHIS? 




COMPU SERVE 



THE SOURCE 



DOW JONES 



WORLD BOOK 
ENCYCLOPEDIA 



STO< 




EMPLOYMENT 
OPPORTUNITIES 



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INFO- NETWORK 



ELECTRONIC 
MAIL 



TRAVEL 

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COLLEGE 

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REVIEWS 



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SHOP AT HOME 



I.Q.TESTS 



GAMES 



SPORTS NEWS 



BUSH 



can answer any questions you for programming tips, Public 



might have about your com- ^ 
puter, or pro- 
gramming, or 
anything else 
Commodore- 
related, via 
electronic 
mail. 

The Commodore Informa- 
tion Network is also your di- a 
rect line to the Commodore 
Bulletin Board, which 
Commodore owners use to 
keep in touch with each other, 

These are iiist a few examples from our existing library of 
U.S.A -PO Box 500, Conshohocken. PA 19428, Canada- 



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technical support. 




THE COMMODORE VIC SO, 
REAL COMPUTER FOR THE PRICE OF ATOt 

Altogether, these little ex- 
tras we've included with our 
VICMODEM add up to a value 
of $197.50. A nice return on an 

software available for the VIC 20. 

3370 Pharmacy Avenue. Ontario. Canada M1W 2K4. 



investment of around $100. 

Some computer com- 
panies think it's reasonable to 
ask as much as $500 for tele- 
computing capabilities such 
as ours. 

However, with the 
Commodore VICMODEM sell- 
ing for around $100, we feel 
we're being a whole lot more 
reasonable. Don't you agree? 

ft commodore 

v COMPUTER 



PUPI 

Arcade Report Cites Ups & Downs of '82 



Despite fears to the con- 
trary, the public did not be- 
come bored with coin-op vi- 
deo games in 1982. It spent 
more money on these elec- 
tronic quarter-eaters than 
ever before. But this did not 
exactly translate into profits 
for arcade operators. While 
the pie grew bigger, the way 
it was divided up proved to 
be a real cause for ulcers. 

This, at least, is the con- 
clusion of Play Meier maga- 
zine's annual "State of the 
Coin-op Amusement Indus- 
try" survey. Coin-op enter- 
tainment generated $8.9 bil- 
lion in 1982. a moderate in- 
crease over the previous 
year's $8.2 billion, according 
to the survey. And, while the 
number of operators in busi- 
ness was up by 33 percent 
over 1 98 l's total, the number 
of coin-op machines in- 
creased by 16 percent, to 
1,793,000 in 1982. 

But these healthy figures 
did not necessarily help the 
operators. The arcade own- 
ers reported that to break 
even on a video game in- 
vestment, the machine had 
to average $ 1 17 per week for 
a 10.5 month period. In 1981, 
video games averaged gross 
weekly collections of $140; 
last year weekly average 
plummeted 22 percent to 
$109 (see chart), with the 
games being "commercially 
viable" for only 7.3 months. 

These figures, says the ma- 
gazine, mean that "the ex- 
pansion of video games, for 
the time being at least, has 
reached the point of dimin- 
ishing returns and factories 
can hardly expect to repeat 
their 1982 sales performan- 
ces anytime soon." The 
Play Meter survey also 
found: 

• 1.375.000 video games on 
location, up from 198 l's 
total of 780,000. 

• Video games accounted 
for 87 percent of the coin- 
op industry's total gross 
collections. 

18 VIDEOGAMES 



Average video game earnings per machine 




Manufacturers' Market Share 






Atari 



Bally/ Midway 



Centuri 



Cinematronics m 2 



Exidy 



Nintendo 




50 



Sega/Gremlin 



Stern 



Taito America 



Williams 



others: 3% 







• 67 percent of the opera- 
tors surveyed reported 
making fewer purchases 
of pinball equipment in 
'82. 

• Midway pulled a 33 per- 
cent video market share; 



Atari. 23 percent; Wil- 
liams. 1 1 percent; and 
Nintendo, 10 percent. 
(See chart.) 

Of games making the 
"equipment poll" for five 
months or more, the top 



13 games were: Ms. Pac- 
Man, Zaxxon, Donkey 
Kong, Robotron, Turbo, 
Galaga, Stargate, Temp- 
est, Qix, Frogger, Pac- 
Man, Centipede, and De- 
fender. — D.S. 



MIPS 



Fleer, Topps 
Vie for Gum 
Card Rights 

G um cards are cultural 
icons. Entire seasons of foot- 
ball and baseball, recorded 
for posterity on gum cards 
decades ago, today command 
high prices; since the late- 
'50s, movies of all kinds have 
been celebrated on cards; 
and during the '60s and 70s, 
television shows, ranging 
from Batman to Charlie's 
Angels, were added to the 
ranks of pictorial cardboard 
history. Now it's time for 
video games to be similarly 
immortalized. 

Both Fleer and Topps, the 
two leading gum card manu- 
facturers, are just beginning 
to capitalize on the most 
popular games. "We saw 
Pac-Man coming along as 
an attention-getter," explains 
Don Peck, president of the 
Philadelphia-based Fleer. 
"The game was appealing to 
our core audience of six to 
14 year olds." Last spring. 
Peck approached Bally/ 
Midway, the company that 
owns the rights to Pac-Man, 
with sketches and displays 
prepared by Fleer's art de- 
partment, and he was able to 
secure a license. Fleer im- 
mediately had a hit on its 
hands. From May to the end 
of November, the card com- 




pany paid Bally/ Midway in 
excess of $600,000 in royal- 
ties, a figure that Peck ex- 
pects will top $1 million in 
the next few months. 

Each Pac-pack comes 
complete with three peel-off 
stickers, three maze cards 
and, of course, the legendary 
pink stick of sugar-coated 
chewing gum. Players rub 
off spots on the cards for 
points; if they hit three 
ghosts, they're dead. In the 
Ms. Pac-Man series, the four 
"acts" reflect different skill 
levels. Pac-Baby and Super- 
Pac cards will be Fleer's next 
delivery to the corner candy 
stand. 

Refusing to be outdone, 
Topps, the industry leader, 
countered with Donkey Kong 



cards last summer. Like the 
Fleer packs, Topps' features 
rub- off cards, stickers and 
gum. The company will also 
follow with a Donkey Kong 
Jr. series. "We read a lot of 
articles and watched a lot of 
arcades before choosing 
Donkey Kong as our first 
entry," says a Topps spokes- 
person. "It's the hottest new 
game to come along since 
Pac-Man." 

While Fleer is looking 
ahead to new video game 
gum card releases, Topps is 
having second thoughts. "The 
format itself isn't that excit- 
ing anymore," explains 
Topps' spokesperson. "We've 
introduced sticker albums 
which seem to be breathing 
new life into the area. They're 



imaginatively designed items 
with some copy that is more 
interesting to kids once the 
album is filled." 

Peck's only problem with 
this new card category is the 
risks involved in licensing 
game titles. "It's like movies 
and TV. Picking winners is 
frought with maybes," he 
says. "The big question is: 
Which one do you pick 
next?" 

Both companies, who have 
been rivals for years, are 
extremely sensitive about 
revealing the games they will 
release next. In the end, the 
kids may pass up the cards 
to play the actual games — 
even if it means missing out 
on the gum. 

—Robert Greenberger 




Playing Hardware to Get 

A fter crying wolf so many "Consumer testing showed 



The Tandy-fied Iniellivision, available at Radio Shack. 



times in the past four years, 
Mattel unveiled a revised ver- 
sion of its Intellivision key- 
board computer attachment 
at the January Consumer 
Electronics Show (CES). 
The new unit, expected to 
sell for less than $200, should 
be available this summer. 

Although the computer 
add-on still features a full 
60-key typewriter-style key- 
board, the built-in cassette 
deck featured in the original 
model has been sacrificed 
for the sake of compactness. 



that people weren't pleased 
with the original computer's 
bulkiness," a Mattel spokes- 
person said. 

They weren't too thrilled 
with the price either, which 
was up around $600, hardly 
a competitive figure. In 
streamlining the product and 
cutting the cost, Mattel now 
feels confident that its cus- 
tomers will "step-up to a 
home computer," the spokes- 
person noted. "We're certain 
now that they are ready, 
(Continued on page 20) 

VIDEOGAMES 19 



Going 

W ith a large game library 
of its own and companies 
like Activision, Imagic and 
even Mattel producing cart- 
ridges for its Video Com- 
puter System (VCS), Atari 
likes to claim the VCS offers 
more variety than any other 
TV-game system. Not so. 
The current numbers leader 
is Astrocade, hands down. 
Though Astrocade itself 
produces only a couple of 
dozen carts for its system, 
one of them is the Astro- 
cade Basic, which includes a 
built-in audio interface. With 
a little practice, you can use 
Astro Basic to invent your 
own games and store them 
on an ordinary cassette tape. 
Probably more important 
is that the audio jack allows 
you to plug in games that 
other gamers have created. 
During the past few years 
garage-type shops like L & M 
Software of Newburgh, 
Tenn., and Esoterica Ltd. of 
Warren, Oh., have sprung 
up around the country, pro- 
ducing TV-games on cas- 
settes for the Astrocade sys- 
tem. Each cassette often 
contains two or more games 
and generally sells for be- 



BUP5 

Straight to the Sourcebook 



Quote of 
The Month 




Howard Warshaw, design- 
er of E.T. game: "It is en- 
tirely possible that Steven 
Spielberg is from outer 
space." 



WINTER 1982 



QStftOCQCJC 



THE PROFESSIONAL ARCADE 

SOFTWARE and HARDWARE 



tween S 10-1 5 — considerably 
less expensive than most 
game carts. The problem is 
how to find them. 

RHM Enterprises, of Liv- 
ermore. Calif., has solved 
that problem with a source- 
book for every known game 
cassette and peripheral avail- 
able for Astrocade. The book, 
much of which is comprised 
of the game companies' own 
catalog pages, details about 
ten companies as well as 
some 125 programs, mostly 
games. A general index lists 
approximately 325 programs, 
ranging from space and sports 
games to entries like a Bea- 
tles quiz and a mutation of 
Tic-Tac-Toe called Tic-Tac- 
Tollah. It also includes per- 
tinent information on avail- 
able hardware, mail order 
dealers, and user groups such 



SOURCEBOOK 



as the nationwide Astrobugs 
organization. Did you know, 
for example, that two ex- 
tended-memory keyboard 
computers, the Blue ram and 
the Viper, are available as 
add-ons to the Astrocade 
console? 

Richard M. Houser, a pro- 
ject engineer at the Sandia 
National Laboratory in Liv- 
ermoreand a father of three, 
decided to publish the source- 
book after he was impressed 
by the one he saw for Radio 
Shack's TRS-80 in 1979. At 
first, he found little support, 
but gradually dealers (he 
charges them $50/ page) and 
the software companies 
($10/ page) came through. 
He's just published the 
fourth edition. 

"Astrocade has put out 
some of the best TV-games 



around," he says, naming 
Pinball, Galactic Invasion, 
and the Incredible Wizard, 
"but people are always 
squawking about how few 
cartridges there really are. 
The games I list range from 
very good to not so good. 
Because there's only 1.8K of 
memory available, the games 
are not very fast and only 
two colors can be on the 
screen at once." Houser per- 
sonally recommends Star 
Trek III, written by Mark S. 
Keller of Orangeville, Calif. 
The price: $10. 

Houser's Sourcebook 
would seem a must for any 
Astrocade owner. To obtain 
a copy of the winter '82 edi- 
tion, send $8 to RHM En- 
terprises, 635 Los Alamos 
Ave., Livermore, Calif, 
94550. —Roger Dionne 



Mattel 

given the marketplace 
growth of the last two years." 
The new, fully program- 
mable keyboard, which is 
driven by the master com- 
ponent's 16-bit micropro- 
cessor, doubles the entire 
unit's RAM capability to 
1 6K. The computer has built- 
in BASIC and Mattel will be 
providing a range of soft- 
ware including a new gener- 
ation of sports games. 



The Los Angeles-based 
manufacturer also intro- 
duced its 52K Aquarius 
home computer at CES. It, 
too, is expected to come in 
for less than $200 and be in 
stores by the summer. 
Meanwhile, in an effort to 
boost Intellivision distribu- 
tion, Mattel recently licensed 
Tandy Corporation's Radio 
Shack division to manufac- 
ture and sell Intellivision 
under the Tandy name. 
Dubbed Tandyvision One, 



the popular TV-game system 
and a selection of cartridges 
are now available in the more 
than 1 .800 Radio Shack out- 
lets worldwide. "We decided 
to carry Intellivision because 
we don't make a video game 
system," says Tandy buyer 
Bob Miller. But don't expect 
Tandy to sign up rights to 
the Intellivision keyboard so 
fast, warns Miller. The com- 
pany, of course, carries a full 
line of TRS-80 computers. 
—Suzan Prince A 



20 VIDEOGAMES 



VIDEO GAMES INTERVIEW 



The 

Great 

Debate 

Featuring Dr. Joyce Brothers, Ronnie Lamm. 
Don Osborne, Mitchell Robin, Dr. Philip C. Zimbardo 

By Howard Mandel 




ideo games may be hazardous 
to the health <>/ voung people 
. . . Wore and more, people 
are beginning to understand 
aeh erse mental and ph) steal e/la ts of 
video games on preteenage anil teen- 
age children . . . /'here's nothing con- 
structive in the games. Everything is 
eliminate, kill, destroy 

is Surgeon General (. Everett 

Koop unloaded this bombshell last /all 

at a seminar on family violence at the 
University of Pittsburgh. The Asso- 
ciated Press picked it up and carried it 
to media outlets </< ross the country 

But a ila\ later. Koop retracted his 
statement, saying: "This represented 
m\ purely personal judgment and was 
not based on anv accumulated scien- 
tifii evidence, nor does it represent the 
official view of the Public Health Ser- 
vice. . Nothing in my remarks should 
be interpreted as implying that video 
games are. per se. violent in nature. 01 

harmful t<> children. " 

What to believe? After this highly 
publicized incident, a search of pub- 



lished studies conducted at Koop's 
request b\ the American Psychologi- 
cal Association turned up nothing to 
prove, or disprove, his point, in fact, 
little research has been done on the 
(■linis o/ videogames. Most oj what 
has been h ritten on the sublet t is pure 
spet ulaiion. 

Hut the urge to spet ulate on how 
the games affet t < hildren and adults, 
and on what ways they are changing 
patterns of entertainment -is irresist- 
ible. Professional observers and con- 
cerned citizens are aim k to offer their 
opinions to whomever will listen 

To present a wide spectrum oj opin- 
ions on the subject, i ideo dames , on- 
ducted a round table discussion b\ 
phone, asking several noted partici- 
pants in the ongoing video games 
debate the same questions in separate 
inter\ few s. The panel includes: 

• Or. Joyce Brothers, the nation- 
alb syndicated newspaper columnist 
and radio commentator. I psycholo- 
gist, she addresses a wide range oj 
issues confronting society daily. 



VIDEOGAMES 21 



• Ronnie Lamm, president of a 
Long Island, N.Y., PTA District 
Council encompassing 12 schools and 
14,000 students, and former teacher 
with a master's degree in early child- 
hood education. She spearheaded a 
drive to stop the proliferation of ar- 
cades in her community in '81 and con- 
tinues to urge for regulation of 
amusement centers in general. 

• Don Osborne, vice-president for 
sales and marketing of Atari's coin- 
operated games division. An Atari 
employee since 77, he has prior expe- 
rience in the educational technology 
industry and in public recreation, as 
director of a West Coast regional park 
system. 

• Mitchell Robin, professor of child 
psychology and data processing at 
New York Technical College of the 
City University of New York and the 
New School for Social Research, also 
in New York. 

• Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo, profes- 
sor of psychology at Stanford Univer- 
sity. He has studied shyness, madness, 



prejudice, conformity, violence, the 
nature of social identity, and behavior 
in prisons. 

VIDEO GAMES: Surgeon General 
Koop originally stated that "video 
games may be hazardous to the health 
of young people." Do the games, in- 
deed, pose a threat of any kind to 
young Americans? 

Dr. Brothers: I don't see them as pos- 
ing any sort of threat, but they do have 
the potential for abuse. If the games 
become an obsession — if they're being 
played when homework is supposed to 
be done, or when money spent on them 
is supposed to go into something else— 
that isn't good for children. I'm also 
concerned about arcades where there's 
no adult supervision, because when- 
ever and wherever children gather in 
groups, people who prey on children 
gather, too. So parents who let their 
children play games in arcades should 
stop by the arcades now and then to 
see what's going on. At home, games 
played in moderation are alright; I 




"Last year the rage 
was Rubik's Cube; 
this year it's video 
games; next year 
it will be 

something else. . . 
I believe we 
all have the right 
to have some 
fun in our lives/' 



DR. JOYCE BROTHERS 



believe we all have the right to have 
some fun in our lives. 

Mrs. Lamm: We're in a world where 
there are so many problems, some of 
which our children will face. We need 
people to populate this society of to- 
morrow who will look and find the 
creative solutions, rather than just 
press a button or turn on a switch in 
reaction to problems. The zapping and 
hitting and killing of objects on the 
screen— what is that doing to the con- 
sciousness of our children? It's an easy 
form of warfare, where children don't 
see the blood and guts and victims. 

Mr. Osborne: I don't see the games as 
threatening at all. Young people are a 
heck of a lot more logical and under- 
standing of the situation than most of 
the adults who are flying the banner 
decrying video games. Perhaps a small 
percentage— I'd guess less than five 
percent — are playing the games to an 
extreme degree. Most have a very 
wholesome attitude towards the games. 
They take them in stride. There's been 
a tremendous amount of distortion as 
to the amount of involvement young 
people have in the games— they're 
playing as they're doing other things, 
like reading books, being active in 
athletics, watching television and doing 
their homework. The involvement is 
not anywhere near what the critics 
have pointed out. 

Mr. Robin: I don't think video games 
pose any threat to young Americans 
whatsoever. 1 know there's a great deal 
of controversy about that, but based 
on my research and some other re- 
search I've seen, it seems the games are 
probably beneficial, if used properly. 
I'm not talking about someone who's 
playing 24 hours a day, plunking in 
quarter after quarter to escape from a 
pressing problem; there are children 
and adults who do that, and they're 
addicted. They have difficult family 
lives, don't understand how to control 
their own lives, and escape into the 
games. But based on my experience, 
I'd say that's a minority. 

Dr. Zimbardo: I'm Mr. Shyness. I've 
done research and written books for the 
last ten years on shyness, and what 1 
see the games encouraging is isolation. 
The games seem to have a lot of appeal 
to people who are social isolates, who 
are loners or somewhat alienated. By- 
playing them, it increases both the 



22 VIDEOGAMES 



amount of time they are not trying to 
relate to other people and their status 
from being good at something that 
does not involve any other human 
interaction. The question is: How is 
that going to prepare them to be social 
creatures? I think my answer is: It will 
not. To me, life is all about learning 
how to relate to and cultivate social 
resources, and the games tend to make 
those irrelevant, at best. 

VG: Whenever the pros and cons of 
video games are discussed the matter 
of eye-hand coordination seems to pop 
up. It is generally accepted that the 
games teach this skill quite effectively. 
Is this at least one reason to get excited 
about video games? 

Mrs. Lamm: Yes, there are children 
with very specific eye-hand coordina- 
tion problems and, yes, very specific 
kinds of reaction drills that video 
games offer are needed to benefit these 
children. But for your average child. I 
don't see the need for that kind of eye- 
hand coordination— unless we're go- 
ing to enroll them in the Air Force. 

Mr. Robin: True, the games enhance 
eye-hand coordination, but that's not 
all. They tap into skills some children 
have that are acceptable to their peers, 
even though they lack skills in other 
areas that may also be acceptable. Let 
me explain: I'm your basic paunchy, 
middle-aged psychologist, and 1 was 
your basic, paunchy, non-middle-aged 
kid. 1 was not a great athlete, and in my 
neighborhood when I was growing up 
athletics were at a premium — you got 
brownie points for being good. I think 
there are a lot of kids out there who are 
finding that maybe they can't play 
basketball well, but darned if they 
can't play video games as well as their 
peers, and get a lot of moral support, 
peer support, for being a high scorer. 
That support is a rare enough com- 
modity in the world that we need to 
encourage it. 

Mr. Osborne: 1 don't think there's any 
question that eye-hand coordination 
improves significantly, and other vis- 
ual skills are improved as a result of 
playing. The ability to deal with and 
manipulate information on a video 
screen is enhanced, and 1 do think this 
will carry over to greater involvement 
with computers. I don't think there's 
any question that it will be beneficial 



somewhere down the road. But to 
make a big ballyhoo about it and play 
it up is ludicrous. 

VG: What is it about the games that 
make them so captivating? 

Mrs. Lamm: The lights, the noise, the 
action— it's exciting to kids. But 1 have 
a concern about spoonfeeding kids 
these things. The accountant, the at- 
torney, the doctor, plumber, electri- 
cian—that's not how they work. A 
boiler doesn't light up in red, green, 
and orange while the plumber's work- 
ing on it. I think we're giving our kids a 
false impression of what life is all 
about. Not that education should be 
tedious. But if weallow our children to 
close their eyes and listen, really listen 
to music, something exciting can occur; 
if we encourage them to read a book, 
they can make their own music. If the 
child walks out of the gameroom feel- 
ing super-great, how long does that 
feeling last? I'm not saying that every 
moment of the day kids need to be 
involved in creative, intellectually 



stimulating activities; every once in a 
while it's fine to lay on your bed and do 
nothing, not even think. Our bodies 
need that from time to time. I just can't 
accept the "instant gratification" and 
"feeling of success" theories psycholo- 
gists come up with. Video games is a 
meaningless activity. 

Mr. Osborne: Where 1 live — San Jose, 
Calif. — more and more recreation 
programs are being taken away from 
kids because the cities can't fund them 
any more. The cost of movies, records, 
bowling is going up. Video games 
haven't gone up since 1972. It's an 
exciting, active involvement, an op- 
portunity to extend one's fantasy 
world. Entertainment, laughing, just 
being able to have some sort of diver- 
sion from the oppression of reality is 
very necessary— video games provide 
that in a very special way. 

Dr. Zimbardo: They're an incredible 
challenge, and there has been very lit- 
tle that poses the equivalent challenge 
of video games to young people in 



'Video games put 

the player in 

command of 

enormous 

resources, 

typically to 

destroy some 

enemy. It's a 

military mentality. 

The question is: 

How much do you 

want to promote 

that kind of 

fantasy?*' 




DR. PHILIP G. ZIMBARDO 



VIDEOGAMES 23 



their lives, or their educations. The 
point is, you can learn to play without 
adult supervision, without elaborate 
instruction, and you can do it in a mat- 
ter of minutes. Another reason they're 
so addictive is that you can improve on 
your own, simply by practice. You 
don't need any external motivation, 
it's all intrinsic: the challenge is within 
the context of "You can do it all." And 
then there's the instant feedback: Un- 
like most things in education, you 
know immediately whether you've 
done something right or wrong, whe- 
ther you moved too slowly or too fast, 
too much to the right or left, or if you 
fired your weapons too soon. So you 
can make adjustments, you can learn. 
Playing video games is almost like hav- 
ing your brain wired into the system. 
And the instantaneous nature of the 
feedback not only makes the learning 
faster, but it's part of the excitement of 
the game. 

VG: Is there any scientific research 
being done regarding video games? 



Dr. Brothers: There's little that I know 
of — it's been a difficult subject to get 
funding for. I don't think research 
would be particularly useful, any- 
way — by the time it's published, the 
kids will be on to something else. 

Mr. Osborne: There are a number of 
scientific evaluations going on through 
Veterans Administration hospitals and 
rehabilitation centers where video 
games have been shown to help people 
regenerate their skills. There have been 
studies with learning disabled children 
and kids with perceptual problems. I 
know of a Dr. Emmanuel Donchin, 
head of the psychology department at 
the University of Illinois, who is study- 
ing whether through part-task training 
on video games you can enhance 
whole-task training. The Atari Insti- 
tute has funded a number of worthy 
educational programs involving the 
use of the computer. But let's face it — 
if Atari funded any study, the results 
would probably be considered biased. 
Funding really needs to come from 




"Video games is 
an easy form of 
warfare. The 
zapping and 
killing of objects 
on the screen — 
what is that 
doing to the 
consciousness of 
our children?" 



RONNIE LAMM 



objective third parties. 

Dr. Zimbardo: I'm aware of a few pro- 
jects: Mark Lepter, in the psychology 
department at Stanford, is looking at 
sex differences in the appeal of the 
games and in microcomputers. There 
is earlier work, done by Tom Malone 
at the Xerox Research Institute in 
Palo Alto, which focused on under- 
standing what makes the games, and 
video displays in general, so addictive 
and exciting. At MIT, Dr. Sherry 
Turkle is writing a book on various 
aspects of video games; she is the one 
who's been researching the subject the 
longest. 

I think if the Surgeon General is 
going to come to conclusions — even if 
he has the good grace to retract them 
when he finds them unsupported- 
he's going to have to have some re- 
search done, and this is the time to 
start, while there are still groups of 
children who don't play the games. 
The National Institute of Mental 
Health, the Office of Education — they 
should sponsor research, and so should 
the video game companies who are 
making enormous profits. 

VG: Do you or your children play 
video games? 

Mrs. Lamm: I have two children, a 
1 3 year old and a nine year old; neither 
of them frequents the arcades, but my 
little one enjoys the games and plays 
them occasionally in her friends' 
homes. Two years ago we had a birth- 
day party for her in a large arcade/ res- 
taurant, where the children were given 
two quarters to spend on rides and 
games. There was popcorn, and we 
were entertained by clowns— it was a 
lovely afternoon. It was supervised, 
and the children were limited to 50 
cents, which was really all they needed 
at age seven. I can see it as a form of 
family entertainment, though we don't 
do it very often. Our priorities are dif- 
ferent. But 1 don't claim everyone 
should have the same priorities as I 
have. 

Mr. Osborne: I play about 30 minutes 
a day, which is not as much as I'd like 
to. I guess 75 percent of my playing is 
business-oriented, where I have to 
evaluate a product, and 25 percent 
recreational. I have a 16-year-old 
daughter and a 13-year-old son; we 
have an Atari Video Computer System 
(Continued on page 72) 



24 VIDEOGAMES 



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How does the 
public enemy # I 
fight back? 
With a publicity 
campaign, 
of course. 




By Ray Tilley 



HOLE 




PflC- 



Put 1 kids in a playground 
on a nice summer day, 
give them a basketball, 
and you've created a scene 
worthy of a Norman 
Rockwell painting. Give 
those same 10 kids some quarters, 
put them in a video arcade, and 
you've created a public menace ... or 
at least that's what the burgeoning 
groups of coin-op video game critics 
would have us all believe. 

Coin-op video manufacturers, dis- 
tributors, and operators are now faced 
with their greatest challenge. They 
have finally acknowledged the forces 
that threaten their industry the 
most— the reactionary groups and 



politicians who want to squash the 
arcade business. Not since Prof. 
Harold Hill pied-pipered kiddies out 
of the pool halls of River City, Iowa, 
has there been such a public outcry 
against organized indoor gaming. 

For the coin-op industry to repel 
its critics* relentless attacks, it needs 
to improve its image. Let's face it: In 
the public's mind, arcades are asso- 



ciated with seediness, petty crime and 
moral corruption. And video games, 
in particular, are often perceived as 
hypnotic experiences that numb 
young minds and hustle kids out of 
quarters. That's why it's a re lief to see 
at least a few signs that the industry is 
awakening to the need to deal with its 
serious public relations problem and 
put to rest these myths that unfairly 








harass operators. 

If the industry needs a game plan 
for a sophisticated public relations 
counter-offensive, it need look no 
further than a 1 16-page manual pre- 
pared by the Daniel J . Edelman Pub- 
lic Relations firm for coin-op opera- 
tors, manufacturers, and distributors. 
Entitled "A Community Relations 
Manual for the Coin-Operated 
Amusement Games Industry," the 
report lays out a number of tech- 
niques to create goodwill. It also 
identifies the key groups that should 
be targeted in any PR campaign. 

As Edelman sees it, the industry is 
now being harassed by five types of 
video game critics: 

• Community leaders: These are ex- 
perienced organizers who have the 
muscle needed to win over local 
politicians and create a storm in 
the media. 

• Teen-haters: These are older peo- 



Not since River City 
has there been such 

a public outcry 

against organized 

indoor gaming. 



pie with no school-age children of 
their own who are convinced ar- 
cades breed juvenile delinquency. 

• Neighboring businesses: Like teen- 
haters, they're the first to bring up 
vandalism, shoplifting, and even 
parking problems. 

• Local politicians: They see signifi- 
cant vote-getting opportunities in 
leading opposition to arcades. They 
also see a potential income source 
in the taxation of game parlors and 
games. 



• Law enforcement officials: They 

fear the destructive capabilities of 

teens in groups. 

To deal with such opposition, the 
manual provides pragmatic and de- 
tailed ideas for beefing up commun- 
ity relations and parrying the politi- 
cal hacks. It arms the arcade opera- 
tors with the ammunition they need 
to deal with the business community, 
news media, and local elected of- 
ficials. 

For example, take the "teen-ha- 
ters." The manual advises that it's not 
enough for games advocates to sug- 
gest that the games educate players. 
This argument won't prevent a city 
council fight when oldsters who 
simply object to teenage gatherings 
are involved. Seventy-five percent of 
the U.S. adult population has no 
school-age children, and this group 
will fervently back anti-arcade drives — 
even if educational values of video 



So You Want to Open an Arcade? 



Wouldn't it be great to open your 
own arcade so you could play 
all the games you want for free? 
Don't hold your breath. Depending 
upon where you live, you could be 
required by law to pay as much as 
$5,000 a year for an arcade license 
and $1,000 per machine — that's 
assuming you'll be permitted to start 
an arcade at all. 

You'll stick to playing? Well, you 
can't always do that either. Certain 
cities and towns limit who can play 
video games and when. The follow- 
ing is a partial listing of areas with 
noteworthy bans, ordinances, and 
restrictions: 

Mesquite, Texas: A 1974 ordi- 
nance banning minors unaccompan- 
ied by adults from playing video and 
pinball games was challenged all the 
way to the Supreme Court. Instead 
of setting a national standard, the 
Court referred the case back to the 
Court of Appeals. The issue remains 
undecided. 

West Warwick, R.I.: You must be 
16 to play arcade games, period. 

Vancouver, B.C.: Minors are 
banned from arcades. They can. 
however, play where there are less 
than four machines (four are consi- 
dered an arcade) during non-school 
hours. Stringent licensing rules (e.g.. 



one parking spot for each machine) 
make it virtually impossible to open 
an arcade. 

Dacono, Col.: An ordinance that 
makes arcade games off-limits to kids 
under 17 who are unaccompanied by 
a parent or guardian is being chal- 
lenged in court. 

Oakland, Calif.: Minors are 
banned from arcades during school 
hours, after 10 p.m. on weekdays, 
and after midnight on weekends. 
Berkeley, Redwood City, Thousand 
Oaks, Camarillo (all California) also 
restrict minors during school hours. 

Some areas concentrate on re- 
stricting operators: 

Etna, Pa.: Arcade operators (those 
with five or more games) must pay 
$5,000 for an annual license, plus 
$250 per machine. 

New Jersey: Licensing costs vary 
by localities, with some as high as 
$1,000 per machine. A proposed five 
percent gross receipts tax (plus a 
$100 per machine state tax) is now in 
the State Assembly's revenue and 
finance committee. If enacted, 1.25 
cents of every quarter would go to 
the state. Also, ordinances in Cliff- 
side Park and Fort Lee limit the 
number of machines in any estab- 
lishment to three and two 
respectively. 

Chicago, II.: Charges $500 for 



annual arcade license fees plus $75 
per machine. Arcades can only be in 
commercial zones, meaning a speci- 
fied distance from schools and 
churches. 

Pawtucket, R.I.: No arcades 
allowed. Machines can be used only 
in bars, clubs, and roller rinks, and 
by non-profit organizations. 

Meanwhile, operators have begun 
to fight back: 

Marshfield, Mass.: Back in 
November, a state court overturned a 
total ban on video games in this 
town. 

St. Louis, Mo.: This city's ordi- 
nance, ironed out between local 
operators and neighborhood leaders, 
forbids the construction of an arcade 
if 51 percent of a community is 
against it. Anaheim, Calif, has a sim- 
ilar ordinance. 

New York State: A proposal for a 
whopping 25 percent gross receipts 
tax (about six cents of every quarter) 
was reduced to seven percent before 
it was tabled in the State Assembly. 
(However, a new gross receipts tax 
was just proposed.) 

Los Angeles, Calif.: A proposal in 
the City Council for a $250-per- 
machine tax was defeated last 
summer. 

The industry received even better 
news recently when a 10 percent fed- 
eral excise tax on games was elimi- 
nated from a major tax bill after 
extensive lobbying by the Amuse- 
ment Games Manufacturers Associa- 
tion, a trade group. —Michael Fine 



28 VIDEOGAMES 



games can be demonstrated. Though 
one public relations veteran says 
"the evil inherent in groups of teens 
congregating, as such, is far from 
clear," it is still an image problem 
that gamespeople must fight. Some 
stereotypes, like the one of tough-guy 
gangs hanging out in smokey pool- 
rooms itching for a brawl, are hard to 
destroy. 

In rebutting the more widely circu- 
lated myths that arcade games lead to 
drugs, gambling, learned violent be- 
havior, delinquency, etc., the manual 
points out that some enforcement 
officials are not predisposed to look 
on arcades as youth hangouts. "Most 
police departments are hesitant to get 
involved in what they view as a 
'parent-child' problem," the manual 
suggests. "Most police administra- 
tors would, in fact, endorse and sup- 
port clean, well-run and well-lit ar- 
cades. It solves the problem of chil- 
dren and teenagers on the streets by 
putting them in a supervised at- 
mosphere." 

A further point often made is that 
arcades legitimately gather youths 
where community-supported activi- 
ties are lacking. However, this is a 
weak argument because it puts the 
arcade games in a second-class role- 
like television as a babysitter. The 
operators and the playing public must 
boost the positive arguments before 
video game attacks are made by crit- 
ics and local press. 

One case history in the manual 
illustrates the value of beating video's 
enemies to the punch. In Clayton 
County, Ga., religious groups last 
year attempted to make church-going 
the only Sunday pastime. They asked 
the county government to close all 
coin-op amusement games on Sun- 
days. Local operators retained an 
attorney, who quickly came to the 
conclusion that the church group was 
not pressuring other businesses to 
close all day, but instead was singling 
out only the coin-ops. 

The lawyer met with the church 
leaders in private. "If you're con- 
cerned about church attendance, why 
don't we keep games closed down 
until noon?" he suggested. "If you're 
concerned about keeping the sab- 
bath, why not close down all busi- 
nesses in the county . . .?" 

Operators in this case presented 
their own hard-economic argument, 
stressing the fairness, or lack of it, in 
the proposed "blue law" and avoided 
a clash that could have damaged 
coin-op's image in a religiously-ori- 



ented community. Rather than wait- 
ing for a public forum (such as a city 
council meeting) that could have 
turned into a kangaroo court, arcade 
operators made a move as soon as 
they sensed a potential problem. This 
strategy was effective public rela- 
tions and led to an acceptable com- 
promise. 

Recognizing the need for public 
relations. Atari, the nation's largest 
video game company, has entered the 
coin-op fracas with its "Community 
Awareness Program (CAP)." It has 
produced a professional, 17-minute 
color videotape called "Video Games: 
A Public Perspective." The film, 
available to Atari distributors since 
last March, features everyday people 
stating their fears about video games, 
while others praise the games, such as 
a Chicago cop who says that gang 
violence on his beat was quelled 



heartily as Atari has suggested (for 
example, by hiring one full-time pub- 
lic relations person per distributor- 
ship). Distributors are concerned pri- 
marily with product sales, not PR 
niceties, and. to them, such a pro- 
gram is a waste of time and money. 
But if the coin-op industry is to 
survive, this "let George do it" atti- 
tude on the part of distributors and 
operators must change. Distributors 
can't simply wail in distress and ex- 
pect corporate giants such as Atari to 
be their Mario and rescue them from 
the clutches of the anti-video game 
donkeys. And the merchant segment 
of coin-op is all too ready to be given 
"a program to plug in" and less wil- 
ling to give careful thought to what 
will work in local situations. The 
resources exist for a pragmatic offen- 
sive. But the lack of sophistication of 
the arcade operators often works 



when an arcade opened, and a re- 
searcher who explains some positive 
mental and physical skills game- 
players have developed. 

The shrewdest aspect of Atari's 
approach is its willingness to air anti- 
video game views. Not only does this 
tactic enable Atari's film to present 
counter-arguments (and hopefully win 
people over), it helps the industry to 
appear thoughtful and reasonable, 
qualities missing in the crusader rab- 
bits on the other side. 

As backup support for CAP. Atari 
is counting on distributors (the "whole- 
salers" who deal with the merchant, 
operators) to be clearinghouses for 
the public relations program. The 
company has developed a procedure 
for circulating the tape and monitor- 
ing the public's reaction. 

It is a worthy project indeed, but it 
seems distributors have been reluc- 
tant to plunge into the program as 




The operators and 

playing public must 

boost the positive 

arguments before 

attacks are made 

by critics and the 

local press. 



against their own interests and those 
of the players. 

If the industry has anything going 
for it. it's business comradery. Macy's 
may not talk to Gimbels but the mar- 
keters of arcade games are somewhat 
like a fraternity and the friendliest 
competitors in the U.S.— periodic 
lawsuits aside. So. common action is 
possible at that level. It was in such a 
spirit that Frank Fogelman. presi- 
dent of Sega/Gremlin, spoke on 
games legislation at the Amusement 
Operators Expo in Chicago last 
March. With politicians aiming their 
legislative sights on video games (in 
December, in fact, New York's out- 
going Governor Hugh Carey sug- 
gested a statewide tax on arcade 
games), Fogelman strongly advised 
operators to take these courses of 
action: 

1) In advance of any crisis, get an 
"action group" together: psycholo- 

V1DEO GAMES 29 



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gists, educators, parents, and others 
favorable to the games, who can pro- 
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2) Retain a professional legal 
counsel and become versed in zoning 
and licensing regulations. 

3) Use "peacetime" to set up posi- 
tive community programs such as 
charity days at an arcade. Waiting 
until a crisis develops will make a 
Good Samaritan program seem like 
merely a bid to buy the heat off. 

Some elements of the arcade in- 
dustry have been keen to this stra- 
tegy, most notably the Ohio opera- 
tors association which has combed 
its members for the best clauses to 
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Air-Hockey players, for example, 
have pushed for an annual air-table 
playoffs that would produce national 
stars in the field. Why not a video 
game championship receiving na- 
tional publicity? Besides the obvious 
fun of such an event, the competition 
would help promote the games' image 
as a wholesome, ail-American sport. 
In my estimation, the sounds of such 
excitement would drown out the voi- 
ces of lawyers defending video game 
critics in thousands of city councils 
across the country. 

If anyone doubts that the anti- 
games crusaders of today carry real 
weight in public opinion, I would 
turn back 25 years for evidence to the 
contrary. In those days, innovative 
comic books were light-years ahead 
of even the Marvels of today. Sud- 
denly, there arose an outcry from 
self-appointed apostles to "clean up 



■-GAM** 






Some stereotypes, 

like the one of 

tough-guy gangs 

hanging out in 

smokey poolrooms 

itching for a brawl, 

are hard to destroy. 



research. (Contact OMAA at 16 E. 
Broad St.. Suite 90 1 , Columbus, Ohio 
43215; 614/221-8600.) 

But while the Fogelman proposals 
and the efforts of Atari and of coin- 
op PR consultants largely address 
the game distributors and operators, 
what about the role of the player in 
this struggle? He should be concerned 
as well, and possibly involved because 
there is a community of interest here. 
If we. the players, want freedom to 
play the games, then obviously our 
concerns overlap with those of the 
merchant. 

If players are to help in clearing up 
the public's misconceptions about 
video games, some concrete moves 
must be made. One could be in the 
form of a national Video Game Play- 
ers Association, restricted to mem- 
bers mature enough to take seriously 
a formal organization with a com- 
mon cause. 

Such a move has been tried before. 



the comic books." Congressional 
hearings, combined with book indus- 
try timidity, strangled enough science- 
fiction and horror books to make 
today's followers of epic fantasy sci-fi 
movies weep. The imagery and inten- 
sity of sci-fi movies is only now 
approaching the creativity of comics 
25 years ago. 

Today, we interact with that coin- 
op Defender or Star Castle. If the 
industry that spawned these games is 
continually harassed, how many crea- 
tive geniuses will end up with their 
talents wasted? 

As we attain the rank of top space 
captains on the block, we should 
make no apologies. We should make 
ourselves heard as one, as an active 
alliance of consumers. ▲ 

Ray Tilley, a former managing editor 
of Play Meter magazine, is now 
working in advertising in New Or- 
leans. 



30 VIDEOGAMES 



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$10,000 contest prize and one of over 
1,000 sweepstakes prizes. A panel of 
judges will determine the contest prize 
winner, with a random drawing de- 
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1983. No purchase necessary. 

$50,000 

WORTH OF ADDITIONAL 
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Deep beneath ocean waters you safe- 
guard a sunken sea chest. One that'll 
make you a millionaire the moment 
you make it to land! Unfortunately, 
enter the shark that'd rather make you 
a meal. You shoot! And shoot again! 
Angering an octopus who's out to ink 
you. You're left contending with his 
tentacles... the shark's swimming 
faster . . . then, another disaster! Oxy- 
gen's on the outs! You must reach the 
life line from your buddy above. Un- 

• *• 



doubtedly, you're dinner... or you'll 
drown in desperation . . . unless you're 
careful ... or awfully quick. 

Good luck! 

Entry form can also be obtained by mailing to Entry 
Request, FO. Box 4912, Chicago, Illinois 60680. 

Name-This-Game is manufactured for the Atari Video 
Computer System Model 2600 by U.S. Games. U.S. 
Games is not affiliated with Atari, Inc. 



BGgames, 

(■ 1982 U S Games Corporation 
A subsidiary of the Quaker Oats Company 




32 VIDEOGAMES 



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1 1982 GAMESTAR, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



ATARI AND 400/800 ARE TRADEMARKS OF ATARI, INC 



Beating the Top 
15 Coin-ops 



By Michael Blanchet 




VIDEOGAMES 35 



Q*bert 



Q*bert is like Pac-Man — easy to learn, fun to 
play, and difficult to master. Your job as 
Q*bert (the orange ball with legs and a big 
nose) is to turn all 63 squares on a three- 
dimensional pyramid into the same color. 
Change a color by using a four-way joystick to 
maneuver Q*bert onto a square. The keys to 
success are split-second timing, an under- 
standing of how the pyramid works, and ice 
water in the veins to cope with the cast of 
loony characters who hop around the triangle 
trying to drive you mad. 

1. You'll have to get used to the joystick. As simple as it 
may seem, being able to jump diagonally only can 
be difficult at first. 

2. There are plenty of patterns in Q*bert. Quickly wipe 
out the bottom row of squares and any area that 
doesn't have a flying disc nearby (there are as many 
as four located to the left and right of the pyramid). 
Also, don't be afraid to jump on squares that you've 
already hit. 

3. The most dangerous squares are in the lowest 
corners (easy spots to be trapped) and the two 
squares immediately below the top square (all your 
adversaries usually stop there first). Be especially 
careful in these spots. 

4. Use the flying discs primarily to trick Coily the snake 
into falling off the pyramid. You do this by leaping 
onto the disc. If Cofly is dose enough to you, he'll try 
to follow you onto the disc too, but he'll be 
doomed — the disc will have taken off already, flying 
you to the top square. By the way. remember 
beforehand to leave some of the top squares the 
original color so you have something to do when 
you're back up there. 

5. Avoid the purple creeps, Wrongway and Ugg — 
they'll only give you trouble. Learn their jumping 
patterns so you don't run into them. 

6. The green guys, Slick and Sam, are another prob- 
lem. They change the squares back to their original 
color. Go for them by touching them early, but if you 
miss the first time, don't bother chasing them. 

7. The magic green ball freezes all the characters for a 
few seconds, but only when you catch it. This is your 
big chance to jump on the squares that are the most 
difficult to reach. But, again, don't chase after it — 
unless it's clear jumping. 

8. As in all role-playing games, learn the playing field 
and the characteristics of all your opponents. You 
shouldn't have to worry about watching Q*bert. And 
always think three or four moves ahead. 




36 VIDEOGAMES 



Super Pac-Man 



The Pac-Man saga continues with Super Pac- 
Man, the third reworking of Bafly/Midways 
ever-popular maze game. The object of Super 
Pac is consistent with its two predecessors — 
dear the maze and avoid the four ghosts. The 
changes here are mostly cosmetic: Instead of 
dots, the maze corridors are lined with edibles 
such as apples, bananas, hamburgers, donuts 
and the familiar energizers. Certain sections of 
the playfield are cordoned off by gates. To 
unlock them, first you have to devour the cor- 
responding key, which is located nearby. But 
it's the large flashing green energizers that 
really distinguish this Pac from the others. He 
becomes ten times his normal size, and is 
empowered to chew through locked doors and 
pass through ghosts after swallowing a green- 
ie. Another feature is the super speed button, 
which does exactly what it says when pressed. 

1. Move around the playfield devouring as many keys 
as possible before eating any of the fruits, burgers, 
donuts, or energizers. This will minimize the possibil- 
ity of getting trapped in a box by a pursuing ghost. 
Incidentally, nothing says you have to eat every key 
to advance to the next screen. 

2. When Pac is playing Superman, hold down the 
speed button. This will cause him to move faster, 
effectively extending the super period. Another trick 
is to eat regular power dots when super. The ghosts 
are worth double at this point. 

3. Every third screen is a bonus round. As Super Pac- 
Man. you get to run through the maze uncontested 
by the ghosts. The object here is to gobble up as 
many goodies as possible before the timer reaches 
zero. My only advice is to hold down the super speed 
button while doing this. 

4. At random intervals, a star appears between the two 
closed boxes right in the middle of the maze. Differ- 
ent objects appear simultaneously in those boxes. 
For the highest bonus, observe which object appears 
in the left box. When the identical object flashes in 
the right box. eat the star. 




VIDEOGAMES 37 



Tutankham 



This search-for-trcasurc game by Stern 
(licensed from Konami) is reminiscent of Exi- 
dy's Venture, but is more colorful and 
absorbing. You play the role of a Dr. 
Livingstone-type character (I presume) who 
scrambles through a series of intricate mazes 
inside an ancient tomb. To ward off the tomb's 
denizens, you can only fire east or west or use 
a limited supply of "flash" bombs that (like 
"smart" bombs) annihilate every critter on the 
screen. But Tutankham is more of a running 
game than a shooting game. 

1. Consider the snakes, buzzards and bats as no more 
than a nuisance, not your primary source of points. If 
you dally too long in any one section, an overwhelm- 
ing force will begin to spring forth from one of the 
crypts. 

2. Holding the gun joystick to the left or right causes it 
to rapid-fire. It's wiser, however, to not use this 
technique when large numbers of foes are approach- 
ing. Instead, bring the joystick back to center after 
each shot, which eliminates the need for a brief 
reloading period. This reloading break may give one 
of your enemies just the time it needs to catch you. 

3. The second screen is divided into two separate laby- 
rinths. Pick up the first key and head for the first lock. 
Once this is done, go back for the second key and 
head for the lock at the lower right-hand corner (the 
arena). Remember, you can only transport one key 
at a time. 

4- After unlocking the first door, immediately head to 
the left. By moving to the right, you will awaken a 
nest of bats who'll begin chasing you. If this happens, 
duck into one of the niches in the vertical corridors 
and blast the bad guys when they come into range. 

5. You are alloted only one flash bomb per screen, so 
get in the habit of using it. It's foolish to go a turn 
without igniting one, since you cannot store it for 
later on. 

6. I recommend reserving a flash bomb for whenever 
you enter the open arena at the end of the second 
maze. You'll need it in order to confront the sizable 
force of bats— the quickest of all your enemies— that 
is waiting to ambush you. 



. 




38 VIDEOGAMES 



Sub-Roc 3-D 



Though Sub-Rock 3-D's sights and sounds are 
definitely awesome, its gameplay is lacking. 
This Sega effort is one of those old-fashioned 
kill-or-be-killed tank-type games that just 
doesn't need much explaining. The pretty pic- 
tures really tell the story. 

1. Since the controls are not adequately detailed any- 
where on the cabinet, here"s a crash course: The left 
periscope handle is used to pan to the left (pull) and 
right (push) of the playfield. At the base of the handle 
rests the fire button. The two buttons on the right 
handle control altitude; press the top one to go up, 
the lower to go down. 

2. Firing constantly is the only way to handle the 
numerous enemy ships on the screen at any given 
moment. To rapid-fire, push the button repeatedly. 
But make sure to release it fully after each shot, or a 
misfire will result. 

3. Battles are staged in both the sea and the sky. To 
become airborne, move far enough so that your 
missiles are in line with the oncoming vessels. The 
same goes for underwater warfare. There is also a 
gray zone where the two wars meet. This is not the 
best place to be because you're able to inflict the 
least damage to the alien forces. 

4. Consider the vulnerable area of your ship equivalent 
to the size of the monitor screen. Any bomb or 
missile striking this windshield costs you a game life. 
As a defensive maneuver, steer left or right to avoid 
oncoming projectiles. 



i::nu 




^"'*«j ■■ * 



mii^i.v„ 




VIDEOGAMES 39 



Joust 



Sick and tired of shoot-'em-ups and bored to 
tears with maze games? Then try Williams' 
Joust, a game as elegant as the period it 
depicts. Your gladiator sits atop an ostrich 
while your opponents are mounted on buz- 
zards. Since most of the battling takes place in 
the air, Joust comes off as a kind of 14th cen- 
tury Space Duel. The fundamentals and con- 
trols (Joystick and "flap" button) of the game 
are easily learned, but difficult to master. 

1. The flap button represents thrust. Press it and sud- 
denly Y ou and your ostrich go skyward. A couple of 
taps every second will hold the bird motionless. But 
release it and down you go. 

2. To protect yourself from overhead attack, hover 
under one of the ledges that dot the screen. 1 like to 
station myself near the one in the upper right-hand 
comer of the playfield. Since the riders (your oppo- 
nents) wrap around the screen (like the objects in 
Asteroids), watch one exit from the left side and 
re-enter on the right. Drop down and touch it— this 
causes the rider to be thrown from its buzzard. 

3. Each time a rider is dismounted, its body transforms 
into an egg. Eggs hatch into new riders if you don't 
pick them up in time. You pick one up by simply 
running over it. If you catch an egg before it strikes 
the ground, you're awarded bonus points (from 250 
to 750). The best strategy, however, is to allow the 
eggs to transform into riders, then flap over and grab 
them for 1 ,000 points each. You have a few seconds 
to accomplish this before they are picked up by 
buzzards. 

4. By the third wave, the floor over the lava pit has 
burned away. This area is now off-limits to everyone. 
Venture too dose and a hand on fire will reach up to 
grab you. If you are caught in its clutches, flap for all 
you're worth. 

5. Every fifth screen is called the Egg Wave. The object 
here is to run over as many eggs as possible (which 
are located on the ledges) before they hatch into 
riders. You can also squash riders waiting for buz- 
zards to pick them up. 

6. Then there is a pterodactyl that can be had only by 
thrusting your lance into its open mouth. I don't, 
however, advise this strategy. Running away is much 
easier . . . and safer, too. 

7. In two-player Joust, the second player controls a 
stork. The idea is to work as a team, but instead you 
end up colliding into each other more often then not. 
It's a nice try, but no cigar . . . from me, at least 





40 VIDEOGAMES 



Moon Patrol 



Moon Patrol is Scramble with a jeep. Travers- 
ing a lunar landscape, you shoot boulders, 
jump over ditches in your path, and encounter 
spaceships that drop bombs from overhead. 
One cycle is complete when you reach the five 
bases, which are strung out across the planet 
at equal intervals. Bonus points are based on 
the amount of time remaining on the dock 
when arriving at each base. By Williams. 

1. The two-way joystick serves as an accelerator (right) 
and a brake (left). The fire button launches two pro- 
jectiles simultaneously, one ahead of your jalopy 
and one above. The forward missiles travel only two 
inches before exploding, while the airborne bombs 
go all the way up to the top of the screen. 

2. The jump button is used to skip over ditches and 
boulders. Be advised: There's a brief delay between 
the time the button is pressed and your jalopy actu- 
ally jumps. 

3. In the higher levels, the boulders increase in size. 
Some require two hits to be completely destroyed. 

4. If you come across a ditch with a boulder resting on 
the far side of it, release one shot before jumping and 
another just before touching down. 

5. Dodge overhead bombs by pulling back and forth on 
the joystick. Some bombs make craters upon 
impact, so be ready with the jump button. 





VIDEOGAMES 41 



Pengo 



Maze gamers looking for something entirely 
different should try Sega's Pengo. As Pengo 
the penguin, you maneuver through a maze of 
ice blocks. No fruit or dots to gobble here . . . 
just sno-bees that are out to sting Pengo. To 
thwart these creatures. Pengo must bop them 
with ice blocks. Bonus points are awarded for 
squashing all the sno-bees within 60 seconds. 
A special bonus is also given for lining up 
three diamond blocks. 

1. In addition to a four-way joystick, Pengo comes 
equipped with an "action" button that performs 
three different functions depending on Pengo's posi- 
tion in the maze. If your penguin is next to a free 
block (one that is not blocked by a wall or another ice 
block), you can send the block sliding until it comes 
to rest against a wall or another block; if a block is 
trapped against a wall or another block, it can be 
crushed; and if you're facing a wall, you can freeze it. 
thereby freezing any sno-bee that may be touching it 
at the time. All by merely pressing a button. 

2. At the beginning of each game, a few of the blocks 
flash briefly, indicating the location of sno-bee eggs. 
Crumble them before new bees hatch. 

3. Take to the offense as soon as possible, since the 
sno-bees become faster and smarter as the game 
goes on. Do this by positioning yourself behind free 
blocks and then pushing the button. Squash more 
than one bee with any one block, and you earn a 
bonus. 

4. Each maze contains three blocks that have dia- 
monds inside. Ifyou're able to align them together — 
making sure none of them are resting against one of 
the walls surrounding the playfield — you're re- 
warded with 10,000 points. 




42 VIDEOGAMES 



Jungle Hunt 



Taito's Jungle Hunt (aka, Jungle King) is a run- 
ning, swimming, stabbing, and jumping game 
set in the heart of the video game jungle. As in 
Donkey Kong, the objective is to save a fair 
maiden who is marked as the main course for 
a headhunted s party. Our hero (you) must 
swing across the jungle via vines, cross a river 
that is chock full of crocs, climb a hill in the 
midst of an avalanche and, finally, hurdle the 
headhunters themselves. Now for the good 
news: There are no mosquitoes. 

1. Jungle Hunt is more a test of timing than technique, 
so pay close attention to the order of events the first 
few times you play. 

2. When jumping from vine to vine, aim for the lowest 
section of each rope. This will increase your jumping 
distance for the next leap. 

3. When underwater, be careful to watch your air 
supply, which is monitored by the red line in the 
upper right-hand corner of the screen. When it gets 
low. simply surface. 

4. Crocodiles can only be killed when their jaws are 
shut. When in doubt, skip em. Any true gamer will 
tell you that a few bonus points are never worth a life. 

5. Avoid the masses of air bubbles rising from the 
river's bottom. If caught in one, you lose control of 
your man. This by itself will not cost you a game life, 
but if a croc happens upon you in this helpless state, 
you're very much in trouble. 

6. When running up the hill you can jump and duck. 
Jump over the smaller rocks and duck under the two 
boulders. 

7. Getting to the girl ain't easy. I take my cue from the 
rope that the girl is tied to over the cauldron. Just as it 
drops down the third time, leap over the two natives, 
watching out for their spears. As I said, it's all in the 
timing. 





VIDEOGAMES 43 



Burger Time 



Burger Time brings together two American 
institutions, fast food and video games, for the 
first time. No, it's not Ronald McDonald chas- 
ing after Big Macs and shakes inside a maze. 
This game, which was introduced by Data East 
and then licensed by Midway, features a little 
ol' burger maker named Peter Pepper and 
such comestible characters as Mr. Egg, Mr. Hot 
Dog, and Mr. Pickle. Pete climbs ladders and 
runs over buns, patties, cheese, and tomatoes, 
the essential burger ingredients that must be 
assembled in the pans at the bottom of the 
screen. He can also go for bonus cups of cof- 
fee, ice cream cones, and french fries. Pepper, 
Pete's one defense, is released by pressing the 
shake button. It spoils his enemies rotten. 

1. The ingredients are spread out over six to nine tiers 
in each of the six different screens. When Pete passes 
over one, it drops down a notch, knocking the ingre- 
dient below it down too. To save time, start at the top 
of each maze. 

2. To temporarily eliminate Mssrs. Egg, Hot Dog, and 
Pickle, wait and drop an ingredient on them (like the 
rocks in Dig Dug). For additional bonus points, run 
over any ingredient while one of the bad guys is on 
your tail. If it falls while any one of the three is on it, 
that ingredient will drop down two notches instead 
of one. 

3. To get them under the ingredients, move from the 
top of the playfield to the bottom and then back to 
the top. Each time you change position, they will 
follow. But since you can move faster and take a 
more direct route, position yourself so that they will 
be easy marks for burger parts as they ascend. 

4. Pepper is thrown in the direction Peter is facing. One 
shake temporarily incapacitates your pursuer — 
when it turns brown, pass right through it. The effec- 
tive range of pepper is quite limited, so be as close as 
possible to the target before throwing it. 

5. You start with five pepper shakes and add onto this 
total each time you cross a bonus object. A pepper 
count is kept in the upper right comer of the screen. 

6. Spend as much time as possible in the center of the 
playfield, even if there are no burger parts there. This 
is where the bonus objects appear. Head for them 
quickly, since they disappear before long. 





44 VIDEOGAMES 



Defender Pinball 



Defender pinball is the first accurate portrayal 
of a video game in the pin category. From play 
features to sound effects, Williams has cap- 
tured the fast and furious pace of its most 
popular video game and repackaged it in 
authentic fashion in a pin cabinet. A good 
score depends not onfy on nimble flipper fin- 
gers, but a basic understanding of how 
Defender video is played. 

1. Take a minute to familiarize yourself with the play- 
field before popping your quarter in. You are given 
ten men to protect. Each of these is represented by a 
drop target on the left side of the playfield. When a 
lander (seen as light images) abducts a humanoid, 
the machine sounds the same warning heard in 
Defender video. To save the humanoid, hit the lit 
drop target. If you fail to do so, it becomes a mutant 
and travels back and forth along the ten targets until 
you hit it. 

2. Baiters, pods, and bombers are also presented as 
drop targets. Knocking these down not only adds 
points to your tally but brings you closer to the end of 
the wave. With each series of five waves completed, 
one extra ball is awarded. 

3. There are two buttons on each side of the cabinet. 
The button on the near left activates reverse, while 
the one on the near right detonates smart bombs. 
Use reverse to bring a draining ball back into play. 
Smart bombs, as always, wipe out all enemies on 
the screen at once. Here, they are best saved to halt 
an onslaught of landers, or simply to rack up last- 
ditch points when the final ball is draining from the 
playfield. 

4. To open the stargate, which allows the ball to roll 
from the playfield back to the plunger alley, aim for 
the bull's-eye that rests behind the drop target in the 
upper left comer. 

5. Use hyperspace to warp ahead three waves at a 
time. First knock down the drop target, then go for 
the bull's-eye. But don't wait. The target will kick back 
up and you'll have to start the process over again. 

6. The sound effects are identical to those in Defender 
video. By listening carefully, you'll be able to figure 
out more accurately what exactly is going on. 




VIDEOGAMES 45 



Donkey Kong Jr. 



The second chapter in the Donkey Kong saga 
is a roaring success and deservedly so. Nin- 
tendo came up with a game that is so similar 
and dissimilar from the original at the same 
time that it couldn't go wrong. There are four 
screens: vines, chains, springboard and 
Mario's Hideout that are each reminiscent of 
one Donkey Kong screen or another. Like the 
barrel screen, the vines screen is the easiest. 
The rest is downhill — or I should say uphill — 
from there. Donkey Kong Jr. is so complicated 
it nearly defies description. 

1. As a rule, climb up two vines, chains or whatever is 
hanging down two at a time. You'll move faster that 
way. Conversely, slide down on only one. Again, its 
faster. 

2. Mario, who is now your adversary, spends most of 
his time throwing down snapjaws from his perch up 
top. Either avoid them by grabbing a parallel vine or 
drop fruit bombs on them for points. Just wait for the 
snappers to position themselves under a fruit, then 
touch the fruit and watch it clobber the little bugger. I 
like to go for two red snappers at once by hitting 
them with the fruit just to the right of the banana. 

3. The chain screen is like the Ziggurat in Donkey Kong. 
There are six chains attached to Papa's cage. 
Each requires a key (attached to the bottom of each 
chain) to release. In addition to snapjaws, you also 
face blue birds. The birds like to hang out to the far 
left and right as the round goes on, so work on these 
chains first. Bomb the snappers and wait for an 
opening to slide the keys up one at a time. Since the 
birds come in waves, there's a two-second lull that 
you must take advantage of if you ever hope to 
complete this screen. 

4. The springboard screen is like the elevators. The first 
trick is to use the springboard to get to the middle 
platform. Timing is key here; a strong finger on the 
jump button doesn't seem to hurt either. At this 
point, there are vines that keep getting longer and 
shorter, and nitpicker birds dropping eggs. Again, 
use the fruit bombs to your advantage. The rest 
requires some nifty climbing and jumping. 

5. Mario's Hideout is the most difficult screen of all. 
Mario has temporarily given up on the birds and is 
manufacturing electric sparks that travel around 
pipes which, of course, you must negotiate. The trick 
here is to do some bombing (go for the orange 
sparks) and lots of jumping (without bumping into a 
spark that's above you), but mostly getting to the top 
as soon as you can. 





6. 



Except for the chains screen, the object is to reach 
the key at the uppermost portion of the screen. Your 
reward is some of the weirdest video game intermis- 
sion entertainment ever seen. 



46 VIDEOGAMES 



Dig Dug 



Dig Dug is a game of many distinctions. It was 
the first video game Atari ever licensed (from 
Namco in Japan); it was also the original 
"carve-your-own-maze" game — a breed that 
has just about vanished from the arcades 
(though certain features, such as dislodging an 
object and then using it as a weapon continue 
to reappear in new games). The plot of Dig 
Dug, though farfetched, is comical and light- 
hearted. The game's central character, Mr. Dig 
Dug, who wears a space suit, burrows through 
the soil in search of Pookas and Fygars (fire 
breathing dragons). He can eliminate these 
nasties in one of two ways — by crunching 
them with boulders or pumping them up to 
the point where their bellies explode. Needless 
to say. you need a strong stomach to survive 
Dig Dug. 

1. A bonus "veggie" will appear somewhere near the 
center of the screen if you dislodge two boulders. Be 
sure to take advantage of this scoring opportunity 
This only happens once per screen. 

2. When two or more creatures are pursuing you, tem- 
porarily halt one of them by pumping two or three 
quick puffs of air into it. This wont kill it, but will give 
you the added time to fend off the others. Repeat this 
procedure for each succeeding creature. 

3. Use this stun-and-run technique to group them 
behind you. Then lead them toward a boulder, 
knocking it loose when they are directly beneath it. 

4. Before you drop the rock, dig a tunnel directly below 
it. Once the boulder is released, the monsters will try 
to escape by running down that tunnel. There's no 
turning back because you've got them trapped. 

5. Fygars will pace back and forth, so time your attack 
properly. Pump them up when they are facing away 
from you. You are given more points for a horizontal 
attack on a Fygar than a vertical one. Fygars, by the 
way, turn white before they breathe fixe. 

6. You get the most points for dropping rocks on mons- 
ters, so develop patterns that allow you to do this as 
often as possible. In the later rounds, its best to blow 
up a monster whose hole is directly below a rock 
and wait for the other monsters to run up the tunnel. 
Then drop the rock. 

7. Dig intelligently. Don*t open large areas of space — dig 
long tunnels all over the place so the monsters have 
to run long distances. This jjgves you more time. 




VIDEOGAMES 47 



Millipede 



Sequel or deluxe versions of popular coin-ops 
usually fail to improve upon the games they 
were inspired by- With Millipede. Atari has 
done a laudable job repackaging and upgrad- 
ing Centipede. You play the role of an archer 
who's job is to ward off millipedes and spiders 
(as many as six may appear on the screen at 
once), earwigs (in lieu of scorpions), dragon- 
flies, mosquitoes, beetles, bees and 
inchworms. To assist you, a supply of DDT 
bombs are scattered about the mushroom 
patch. Hit one directly and it explodes, result- 
ing in a cloud that fumigates everything in its 
way. Millipede also features "skill-step." For 
example, if you exceed 60,000 points in your 
first game, but score less than 75,000, you 
may begin your next game at 60,000 — with a 
fresh supply of lives. 

1. Your shooting zone is shaded lighter than the rest of 
the playfield. Keep this area free of mushrooms. After 
each wave, the mushroom patch reappears one step 
closer to your zone. 

2. Since there's a limited number of DDT bombs, be 
particularly careful not to hit them accidentally. Wait 
for either a long millipede or a swarm of bees, mos- 
quitoes or dragonflies to congregate near a bomb 
before hitting it. Anything wasted by the DDT doud is 
worth triple the normal point value. 

3. Spiders bounce in place and move diagonally in 
your zone; they cannot backtrack. If one enters from 
the right side of the screen, move to its right— unless 
you want to go for it. The spider is no longer a threat 
once this is done. 

4. Dragonflies swoop down from the top of the screen, 
banking left and right like galaxians. Move to the top 
of your zone as they approach. If you miss on the 
first shot, lower your position and fire again. Don't 
worry about missing them — dragonflies possess 
limited lateral movement, which allows you to 
escape them by shifting sharply to the left or right. 

5. Mosquitoes fly diagonally, bouncing off the left or 
right borders of the screen upon impact. To avoid a 
collision, be sure to gauge its carom precisely. 

6. Beetles pose a double threat since they can enter the 
playfield from either the left or right sides of your 
zone or from the top. Fortunately, they're easily 
outsmarted. If a beetle is going from right to left, 
simply move to its right and you're out of trouble. 
My advice, however, is to shoot them instead. This is 
the only way to stop them from turning mushrooms 







*-9 9 S 


PS2Pt3k1 




NEXT BONUS A 


I 90000 




into indestructible flower barriers, which they accom- 
plish by touching a mushroom. 

Bees are better known as superfleas. They are 
speedier than the average flea and even become 
faster when hit for the first time. It's the second that 
does them in. 



48 VIDEOGAMES 



Front line 



Taito has a knack for coming up with some of 
the most original and offbeat games in the 
business. Its latest, Front Line, is an example 
of this. With pistol in hand and a sack of gre- 
nades at your disposal, you (an infantryman) 
must maneuver through fields and rocky waste- 
land, avoiding enemy troops all along. The 
object of Front line is to reach and capture the 
enemy fortress. The controls consist of an 
eight-position joystick, an eight-position firing 
knob— similar to the one used in Taito's Wild 
Western — and a grenade button. Instead of 
travelling in a straight line, grenades have an 
"L" shaped trajectory. Thus, a grenade thrown 
from a three o'clock position falls and deto- 
nates at a point somewhere around five 
o'clock. 

1. It's not necessary to score a direct hit on enemy 
soldiers or tanks. Simply fire in the area where they 
are located and watch them blow. Later on, when 
you encounter snipers perched in trees, a grenade 
lobbed at the base of the tree will do the job. 

2. Avoid the mines that are scattered along the course. 
In certain situations, though, they can be put to good 
use, such as when a group of soldiers is standing 
near a mine. Blasting it will kill all the troops in the 
immediate area. 

3. Keep moving at all times. Try to kill all troops as 
swiftly as possible since each troop passed up even- 
tually catches up with you later in the game. 

4. When confronted by green enemy tanks either gre- 
nade them or climb aboard a blue tank. Stick to the 
dirt roads when inside the tank (it travels slower on 
the grass). If hit by an enemy shell while you're in it. 
jump out before the tank explodes. To do this, push 
the grenade (aka, panic) button. 

5. To destroy the fortress, you must leave the tank and 
score a direct hit on the fort with a grenade. 

6. For temporary protection, position yourself behind 
one of the brick walls. Keep an eye out for grenades 
coming from enemy foxholes. 





VIDEOGAMES 49 



Tron 



This game, based on the movie, has legs. As in 
Gorf, Midways Tron whisks you through four 
separate contests—against tanks, light cycles, 
the MCP cone, and grid bugs. Unlike in Gorf, 
however, you never know in what order the 
games will appear after you complete the first 
round. Tron's controls consist of a Gorf-like 
joystick-with-a-trigger and a rotating knob. 



1. 



3. 



6. 



In the tank battle, you must hit the enemy three 
times to destroy it, while the enemy needs only one 
hit to finish off your tank. To even the odds, your 
cannon is capable of rapid-firing as well as caroming 
blasts against walls. Your best defense is to use the 
thin lines in each passageway as markers. As long as 
you don't step across the midway point you're safe 
from lethal volleys. 

The orange diamond in the center of the screen is a 
handy defensive tool. When your tank enters the 
diamond it is jettisoned to another location on the 
grid— it's like hyperspacing. The diamond also serves 
as a shield. Enemy shells cannot fire through it, 
though yours can. 

If you're good at Atari's Surround cartridge, the light 
cycle game should be a breeze. It's best to move at 
full throttle until you're sure the opposing bikes are 
boxed in. In later rounds, box yourself in. This seems 
to confuse your opponents, causing them to collide 
with each other. 

To enter the MCP cone, clear a path through the 
rotating band of MCP rainbow blocks. Initially, the 
blocks move left to right, so move as far right as 
possible and fire away. For 1000 extra points, dean 
out all the blocks before entering the cone. 

In later rounds, I advise firing straight up from a 
center position. This seems to produce additional 
firepower. When the hole you've blasted is large 
enough, slip up through it. 

Rack up bonus points in the grid bug game by 
blasting your way to one of the side entrances and 
then waiting there for the warning tone, which indi- 
cates that you have three seconds to shoot before 
slipping into the bonus hole. ▲ 



BEATING THE TOP 15 COIN-OPS written by 
Michael Blanchet, author of How to Beat the 
Video Games, How to Beat Atari. Intellivision, 
and Other Home Video Games and a weekly 
column syndicated by the Chicago Tribune. 
Donkey Kong. Jr. and Q'bert written by John 
Holmstrom. Cover illustration by Walter Gallop. 
Special thanks to the Fascination arcade in New 
York City for allowing us to photograph on the 
premises. 




50 VIDEOGAMES 



Welcome 
to the Club 

Having liberated the arcades, women are just 
starting to make their presence felt in the mostly 

male game business. By Anne Krueger 



I our-an 




our-and-a-half- 
years ago, when 
Space Invaders first 
appeared at my neigh- 
borhood bar, I was one 
of the few women to 
play it. Most of the other 
women called the game 
a "boy's toy" and ignored 
it. I remember being annoyed 
that they felt no urge to tackle 
this curious challenge. 

A few years later I fell in love 
with Pac-Man. But this time things 
were different: Women, as well as men, 
were eagerly dropping quarters into the 
machine's bottomless coin pit. Pac-Man 
had personality and didn't force you to 
shoot up unidentifiable flying objects in 
space. It was these characteristics, plus the 
game's easy rules and lone joystick con- 
troller, that encouraged women to take up 
the art of video gaming. By the time Ms. 
Pac-Man came along, women had all but 
liberated one of the last bastions of male privacy— the 
arcade. 

Bally/ Midway, Pac-Man's manufacturer, claims the 
percentage of women playing video games has risen from 
eight to 30 percent since the introduction of Pac-Man in 
1980. During that same period, women have begun to 
make inroads in the game business. It was once rare for a 
woman to be hired in marketing and game design capa- 
cities. Now it seems every company is making an effort to 
recruit women for these jobs. In my research, I turned up 



15 women in posi- 
tions that are not re- 
lated to promotion, 
publicity, or advertis- 
ing. 
"Most women in 
business," explains Hope 
Neiman, director of 
marketing at General 
Consumer Electronics 
(GCE), "have been in avenues 
traditionally more open to them 
like ad agencies, marketing firms, 
or packaged goods companies like 
General Foods." 

Neiman has a math degree and an MBA. 
Her pre-GCE resume, which included a 
stint at General Foods, was not exactly a 
paid ticket into the business. "Women just 
haven't held high-level positions in other 
companies, so they can't cross over," she 
laments. "In any business, networks are 
very important, but they're usually set up 
among the good oV boys who've been 
around the industry. Consequently, men hire other men. 
Most new companies are started by men in high-level 
positions who need to find other men in high-level 
positions." 

As a lowly designer/ programmer, Dona Bailey was able 
to avoid this catch-22 situation. She simply quit her 
programming job at General Motors and signed up with 
Atari's coin-operated games division in 1980. Centipede 
was her first project. "I really like pastels," she says, "which 
is why there are so many pinks and greens and violets in 



VIDEOGAMES 51 



Centipede. I really wanted it to look 
different, to be visually arresting. I 
think that's a new emphasis in games." 

Says Ed Logg, Bailey's partner on 
the project: "Centipede was definitely 
aimed at the women's market. I'm not 
sure that without Dona's viewpoint it 
ever would have made it there." 

Susan Forner, a freelance game de- 
signer and graphics consultant at Bal- 
ly/Midway's game-design subsidiary 
Dave Nutting Associates (DN A), says 
the demand for quality programming 
in the intensely competitive game bus- 
iness is making sex discrimination less 
of a problem. It's not so much a ques- 
tion of what women can bring to video 
games, but "what artists can bring that 
engineers can't — namely, appealing 
graphics," she insists. A self-taught 
artist, Forner studied computer and 
electronic visualization at the Univer- 
sity of Illinois before approaching 
Nutting. "I see more and more women 
in engineering departments taking 
programming courses that people used 
to think were too hard," she says. "It's 
getting to the point where it doesn't 
matter whether you're a woman, but 
how many programming languages 
you know." 

Forner is now working on a non- 
violent, educational game. She can't 
discuss details other than it won't be 
either a shooting or strategy game. "It 
will appeal to people who've never 
played games before, especially to 





SUE CURRIER 

'Sometimes we're our 
own worst enemies.' 




JANICE HENDRICKS 

"/ was one of the first full-time women in graphics 

and programming at Nutting. They didn't quite 

know what to make of me." 



women in my age group," says Forner, 
who is 31. 

One woman who could not resist the 
lure of computer graphics is Janice 
Hendricks, who designed the compu- 
ter animation for Joust, Williams 
Electronics' popular coin-op game. 
Praised by Forner and Bailey for its 
sensitive graphics, ease of movement, 
and appeal to women, Hendricks rep- 
lies: "I designed the graphics (on Joust) 
to appeal to me." 

Hendricks was first exposed to her 
future field when she worked for the 
Siggraph computer graphics show in 
1 978. "When 1 saw the things they were 
doing and showing it just took my 
breath away," she says. "I have an art 
background, but I never knew you 
could do that with it. I never realized 
that you could combine programming 
with wonderful graphics." 

A psychology major, Hendricks 
couldn't get the computer animation 
she had seen out of her head. "I was 
pretty set in my field," she admits, "but 
the more 1 got involved with compu- 
ters the more I was tempted to putter 
around with them. Actually, 1 thought 
that by taking a few courses I'd get it 
out of my system. Instead, it got 
worse!" Hendricks ultimately decided 
to get a master's in engineering, not 
psychology. 

In 1979, she again worked at Sig- 
graph, and this time she introduced 
herself to people at the Nutting booth. 
Three months later Nutting hired her. 



"I was one of the first full-time women 
in video graphics and programming at 
Nutting," she says proudly. "They 
didn't quite know what to make of 
me." 

Dave Nutting calls his female em- 
ployees "girls" and believes they con- 
tribute a distinctly feminine touch to 
his company's games. "Women are 
better at creating the patterns, imag- 
ery, and atmosphere for games," ex- 
plains the industry veteran. "They have 
more of a sense of feeling and color 
than men do. Games done by men 
work fine, but usually will look a bit 
stiff." 

Says Hendricks about her experi- 
ence at Nutting: "It's a good place to 
get started. You're allowed to drift 
around and find out what you're good 
at. It's like school." 

Mary Ptak wouldn't mind enrolling 
at this "school." She recently left an 
engineering position at Honeywell to 
give birth to — and raise — her child. 
She'd like tojoin her husband, Tom, at 
"DN A University" (as Nutting's firm is 
affectionately called by his "students") 
in the near future. "When I was in 
college women weren't encouraged to 
go for math or engineering careers," 
Mary recalls. "1 think it's changing, 
but I don't expect this to change that 
much. The numbers will probably just 
even out." 

At Columbia University in New 
York, Joseph Traub reports that the 
enrollment of women is steadily climb- 



52 VIDEOGAMES 



The Myths of 

Pac-Man & Other 

Related Topics 



Since most women were intro- 
duced to video games via Pac- 
Man, and since Pac-Man is so cute 
and cuddly, popular industry wis- 
dom says that women only want to 
play so-called "cute" games. True or 
false? Let's just call it a myth. This 
and other myths surrounding female 
game-playing attitudes should be 
demolished once and for all. 

Myth #1: Women play easier games 
than men. 

Most female gamers are beginners, 
says Williams' Janice Hendricks. And 
what kind of game would a beginner 
naturally prefer? "Any game that has 
simple controls and is easy to under- 
stand," she says. "Games that take a 
lot of time and money to learn aren't 
instantly appealing to most begin- 
ners." 

Kathy Novak, market research 
manager at Bally/ Midway, thinks 
women's aversion for complex con- 
trols and complicated games will 
pass. "It's all due to indoctrination," 
she says, referring to Pac-Man. "It's 
easier to start with simpler games and 
then advance to more complex ones 
that require more strategy and offer a 
greater challenge." 

Novak offers herself as an exam- 
ple. "I worked here for almost a year 
before I played any games at all." she 
admits. "They intimidated me, but not 
anv more." 



Myth #2: Women prefer simple con- 
trols. 

According to the "brain dichot- 
omy" theory, women have better 
reflexes, but don't think in the ab- 
stract as well as men do. Freelance 
game designer Tim Skelly suggests 
this may explain why women gener- 
ally dislike spatial games such as 
Asteroids and Defender. "Those left, 
right, thrust, fire, multi-button fly- 
ing-type games require an intuitive 
sense of what position your space- 
ship is in," he says. "You need to 
figure out how long you have to press 
a button to get where you want to go. 
The kinesthetic feedback you get is 
not nearly as direct as the kind you 
receive with a trackball or joystick." 
Centipede and Pac-Man. which em- 
ploy a trackball and joystick respec- 
tively, "don't require spatial play," 
Skelly continues. "You don't have to 
visualize everything in your head." 

Hendricks doesn't buy the brain 
dichotomy theory, contending: "It's 
conjecture. It's quite far from pro- 
ven." Susan Forner, of Dave Nutting 
Associates, adds that "women are 
meticulous and can handle the most 
complex set of controls." 

Myth #3: Women just like to look at 
pretty colors. 

Dona Bailey paid plenty of atten- 
tion to color when she was program- 
ming Centipede. "Graphics make a 
big difference, and color has a lot to 
do with it," she points out. Though 
she concedes that "color is especially 
important to women, I never heard 
any complaints from men about Cen- 
tipede, except from a lot of guys at 
Atari." 



Skelly, on the other hand, asserts 
that colors are of equal significance 
to both men and women. 

Myth #4: Good girls play "cute" 
games. 

"Most of the games I play men 
don't seem to like, but one we agree 
upon is Centipede. It's easy to learn, 
yet tough to master, and combines 
personality, humor, simple controls, 
and attractive graphics." Dona Bai- 
ley definitely knew what she was 
doing. Recently, Dona offered these 
comments about the game Robotron: 

"1 have an enormous amount of 
enjoyment playing it and while doing 
so it's challenged some of the things 
I'd been thinking about women and 
games. Since I like it so much, it's 
forced me to consider whether games 
really need some sort of peace-loving 
quality to them. Robotron is a shoot- 
'em-up, but it's not advocating vio- 
lence or mindless slaughter. Robo- 
tron is funny without being a cartoon. 
I really respect that a lot." 

Myth #5: Good girls don't play games 
at all. 

"Women traditionally haven't par- 
ticipated in games." says Jewel Sa- 
vadelis. software product manager in 
the consumer division at Atari. "It's 
just not something we were intro- 
duced to earlier in life." 

This, of course, is changing. Hen- 
dricks cites her 12-year-old sister 
who took an eight-week computer 
class last summer. "If women are 
exposed to things at that age, the 
awkwardness will certainly disap- 
pear" -A.K. 



ing in the computer science depart- 
ment, which he chairs. While only four 
of the 32 students in the department's 




PhD program are women, Traub says fore. At Barnard College, Columbia's 
the department is receiving more ap- sister school, the computer science 
plications from women than ever be- department has grown to 50 majors in 



ROBERTA WILLIAMS 



"/ think it will 
remain a male- 
dominated 
business/' 



VIDEOGAMES 53 



three years of existence. 

Linda Averett, who along with her 
husband, Ed, designs games for the 
Odyssey 2 system, estimates that "at 
least 50 percent of software graduates 
are now women." Her degree is in 
engineering physics; computer science 
was not offered at the school she 
attended. 

The Averetts are responsible for 
games like K..C. Munchkin, K.C.'s 
Crazy Chase, and Pick Axe Pete. "We 
did K.C. Munchkin right after Pac- 
Man became so popular," she says. 
"We knew it was a game women would 
definitely like. Women are more ana- 
lytical. I think that's why they don't 
like shoot-'em-ups." In a switch, Linda 
usually does the programming while 
Ed creates the graphics. They license 
games in the name of Averett & As- 
sociates. 

Probably the most successful of the 
husband/ wife teams now entering the 
business is Roberta and Ken Williams, 
co-founders of Sierra/ On-line Soft- 
ware. Sierra had revenues of over $10 
million in 1982. primarily on sales of 
game software produced for Apple 
computers. Roberta is a self-taught 
programmer who specializes in adven- 




SUSAN FORNER 



"It's getting to the point where it 

doesn't matter whether you're a woman, 

but how many programming languages 

you know." 




DONA BAILEY 

''Atari was always saying they were 

trying to hire women, but they said 

the percentage of women applying was low. 



ture games. Disappointed with the 
games available for the Apple, she 
created her own. Mystery House, and 
has since produced several bestsellers, 
including Zork, a 12-disc epic, and 
worked with Henson Associates on the 
computer game based on Dark 
Crystal. 

Roberta believes women are better 
than men at writing and verbal com- 
munication. Men, according to her, 
usually excel at math and logic. Writ- 
ing an adventure game, she says, "is 
easier for women to do. It's like 
screenwriting." 

Williams agrees that more women 
are "getting into all aspects of the bus- 
iness," though she doesn't see them 
coming in droves. Of Sierra's nearly 
100 freelancers, only a handful are 
women. "1 think it will remain a male- 
dominated business," she concludes. 

Working in a male-dominated field 
can be a tremendous strain. Suffering 
from what she calls "fraternity burn- 
out," Dona Bailey recently left Atari 
and joined Videa. a design firm found- 
ed by three ex-Atarians. Being the only 
woman in coin-op engineering slowly 
wore her down to the point where she 
had to quit. 

"When 1 first started it wasn't so 
overwhelming," she says. "But as the 
department grew, it was like being on 

(Continued on page 81) 



54 VIDEOGAMES 



SWEATY PALMS GUARANTEED! 



EXCITING 
NEW GAMES! 



US GAMES m 




EARTH DOOMED? 




LONE SPACE JOCKEY FIGHTS BACK! 

With every human attack weapon able missiles into alien planes, tanks, 
captured by alien forces and turned and other obstacles. 

against Earth, surrender seemed in- ^ • .« «. .. u ,■ . 

& .. ,, '., j £ Can you beat the aliens with their 

evitable ... until you captured one or u- ? v -c »- 

tk A «iui *»*«i«- ^TJUmT own machine* You can...ir you re 

fast enough, if you're accurate enough, 



the alien attack saucers! 



Screaming through the atmosphere, 
you cut forward and back, up and 
down to escape relentless alien fire- 
power. You blast back, firing direct- 



if you're good enough. 



• •• 



Can you beat the 
level 161 



PAGE 2 U.S. GAMES^ NEWS 



ANDROID RAIDERS ATTACK! 

HOT GUNNER 
COULD SAVE CITY! 



With attack choppers dropping 
android commandos and fighter- 



bombers delivering payload after 
payload, our city would be des- 
troyed by now if it weren't for 
one brave gunner . . . you. 
Only your quick eye and quicker 
trigger finger can hold off wave 



after wave of android parachutists. 
Only your skill can keep them 
from tunneling under the city and 
taking you out. The game is Com- 
mando Raid, and you're the city's 
last hope. 




The action gets faster with each 
commando attack wave! 

• •• 



Z APPER A FAST BL AST! 

HOT GAME CHALLENGES THE BEST! 




Just when you think you've 
thought fast enough, you've 
got to think faster! You've got 
to fire left and right to zap 
deadly asteroids . . . one hit by 
the Doomsday asteroid and 
your saucer blows! 

But that's just defense! To win 
you've got to fire overhead with 
incredible skill to blast away 
the letters of the alien's language. 
And it will only work if you 
follow the computer's lead. Can 
you beat Word Zapper through 
all 24 games? Can anybody? 







&4m 






v^m 



Why is Ronald Evans smiling? Did he beat 
the zapper? 



U.S. GAMES~ NEWS PAGE 3 



FIERY DISASTER AVERTED! 



SAVES HUNDREDS! r c f nt e c ? pant u s -T? you 

You re the hrehghter ... do you 




It was the worst fire you'd ever 
seen ... a high-rise going up like 
a torch. With a different fire-filled 
maze on every floor. And hun- 
dreds with no way out... unless 
you could get them out to the 
rescue chopper. 




MISSING PERSON 
MYSTERY SOLVED! 

ENTIRE FAMILY CAUGHT UP IN SEARCH. 

It seems simple enough ... some- 
body disappears, and you find 
them. But this is a spooky video 
world, with electronic hidey-holes 
that happen where you least expect! 

You can seek a friend or family 
opponent ... or take on the com- 
puter! You've got to beat the clock, 
or your Sneak *N Peak opponent 
has you dead to rights! 




Four different rooms with lots of 
sneaky places to hide. 



• •• 



have the skill and strategy it takes 
to beat Towering Inferno? 




Relive the movie in this challenging maze 
game! 



• * • 




SWEM MALMS 
ARE GUOtNTEED! 



WHEN YOU WANT HOT 

ACTION ON YOUR ATARI; 

LOOK FOR THE NAME 

US GAMES 

© 1982 U.S. Games Corporation 
A subsidiary of The Quaker Oats Company 



Cartridges are manufactured for the ATARI 
Video Computer System Model 2600 by U.S. 
Games. ATARI, Video Computer System, and 
2600 are trademarks of Atari, Inc. U.S. Games is 
not affiliated with Atari, Inc. 




58 VIDEOGAMES 




By Perry Greenberg 



Trackballs, button controllers and sticks of every shape 

and size are now available for TV-game play. With the right 

one, you can even increase your Pac-Man score. 



n more primitive times — i.e. three 
years ago — you probably took 
your joystick for granted. To sur- 
vive and conquer in early video 
games like Space Invaders, all you 
had to do was move an object 
along the bottom of the screen, and the 
tick was good enough to do 
it. But when Pac-Man and the rash of 
ma/e games hit the market and games 



like Ber/erk were introduced, simple 
side-to-side movement no longer suf- 
ficed. To beat this more sophisticated 
generation of video games, you had to 
move up. down, sideways, and some- 
times even on a slant. And you had to 
do it absolutely instantaneously. For 
the video game player, life became a 
lot more treacherous. Using the simple 
Atari joystick made as much sense as 









sending up a World War 1 fighter 
plane to battle the Israeli air force. 

You needn't worry, though. A cot- 
tage industr\ is springing up to meet 
these new needs. About a do/en com- 
panies are betting you'll shell out be- 
tween SI 3 and S IOC I for a controller to 
impro\e your game. Some of these 
new products are billed as replace- 
ments for the original Atari sticks. 
Others are not joysticks at all but but- 
ton controllers and trackballs that 
plug into home video systems. One 
company— Cable Enterprises of Pitts- 
burgh — is even promising to modern- 
ui oi' Atari for S5.95 through the 
use of a heavier, longer base and a 
sponge rubber pop-on ball. 

Of course, you shouldn't expect too 
much from these new products. Just as 
switching from a $30 Jack Kramer 
wood racquet to a $250 Tony Trabert 
graphite won't by itself vault you into 
the Wimbledon finals, a new joystick 
won't automatically transform you into 
a tournament champion. But a good 
joystick can improve your comfort, 
ease of movement, and, most impor- 
tant of all. alle\iate fatigue. 

This last point is crucial. When 
you're reaching for record scores, fa- 
tigue can be your toughest foe. Some 
of the newer sticks are far more com- 
fortable to hold than Atari's contoured 
handle, which is slippery and tough to 
grip. A few have long, tapered handles 









-// 




VIDEOGAMES 59 



or finger-contoured pistol grips. Many 
provide one-hand control of bothmove- 
ment and firing by having the firing 
button on top of the handle. All this 
counts a great deal as you try to dupli- 
cate arcade glory in your home. 
Among the best of these new pro- 
ducts are the the Wico controllers — 
truly the Mercedes-Benz's of joysticks. 
Why? Wico decided to create for the 
home exact replicas of its arcade joy- 
sticks — a sure formula for success. 
Starting at $29.95. Wico's controllers 
look and feel great and play beauti- 
fully. They all have large sturdy bases 



Wico's Red Ball 




and strong metal shafts. Each stick is 
equipped with two fire buttons, one on 
the base and one at the top of the shaft 
so the player has a choice between one- 
or two-handed operation. One reason 
for Wico's superior feel: Unlike the 
Atari sticks, which employ non-re- 
placeable switches, Wico's can be re- 
placed for a nominal fee, thus keeping 
your game playing fresh and brisk. 

The Wico sticks come in two basic 
styles: The Command Control joystick 
($29.95), which has a contoured base- 
ball-bat type handle, and the Red Ball 
joystick ($34.95), a long metal shaft 
topped by a large, easily gripped red 
plastic ball— just like you find in the 
arcades. Will Wico sticks improve your 
scores? Well, I used them to play Pac- 
Man on the Atari 2600 and Donkey 
Kong on ColecoVision. In both cases, 
my scores rose slightly. More impor- 
tant, playing Donkey Kong was a lot 
more fun than usual. 

Another standout is D-Zyne's Super 
Stick ($39.95)— one of the best of the 
new joysticks for emulating coin-op 
feel and movement. It has a short steel 
shaft topped by a large, hard black 
plastic ball that is slightly smaller than 
those found on arcade consoles. It has 
a nice, smooth throw and is very 
responsive — my Pac-Man score im- 
proved when 1 used this stick. But 
there is a problem: The base is just too 
big to be held comfortably. I'm told 
D-Zyne is redesigning the stick with a 
smaller, more attractive base. 1 just 
hope the company doesn't make any 



D-Zyne Super Stick 



1 






I 



changes on the stick. It doesn't need 
any. 

Gamers familiar with Astrocade's 
much acclaimed pistol-grip controllers 
will experience deja vu when they try 
Zircon's Video Command stick 
($19.95). Its sleek design might at first 
confuse you; in fact, it looks like a 
hand-held bicycle pump. But upon 
inspection, you'll see a five-inch shaft, 
which you grab with a fist, and a red 
fire button, which you press with the 
same hand, trigger-style. At the very 
top is a triangularly-shaped knob that 
shifts — perhaps too readily — in all di- 



Buttons I Have Known and Loved 



It seems as if every new game has a 
joystick and a button with a strange 
name. I'm not complaining. 1 just no- 
ticed that button names are getting 
weirder by the minute! 

Most people can figure out which 
buttons are for one- and two-player 
games, and everyone is familiar with 
"shoot" buttons by now. But talk 
about reverse, hyperspace, smart bomb, 
thrust, and fire buttons and some peo- 
ple might think you're talking about 
an orgy instead of Defender. If you've 
been around the arcade scene, then 
you've pushed buttons that pump, 
jump, punch, kick, knife, flap, flash, 
spray, zap, and swat, and you recog- 
nize them from games like Dig Dug. 
Donkey Kong, Kangaroo. Kick-Man. 
Jungle Hunt. Joust. Tutankham, Wip- 
ing, Monster Bash, and Domino Man. 
One of my all-time favorites was the 



"dog" button from Mouse Trap, which 
also featured "door" buttons. Then 
there was the "dig-hole" button from 
Space Panic, which was accompanied 
by a "fill-hole" button. Some truly 
bizarre buttons I've pushed recently 
were the "retract tongue" from Ant- 
eater, the "make a brick" from 
ZZYZZYXX, and the "throw gre- 
nades" from Frontline. The "pepper" 
button on Burger-Time also deserves 



some kind of award. 

People love to push buttons, so 
we're bound to see lots of funny new 
buttons on the video games of the 
future. Maybe we'll see even stupider 
buttons like stomp, spit, spill, drool, 
flip, flush, drop, pop, or fwop. 

Of course, the dumbest idea ever, 
the Ultimate Button, was featured in 
Blueprint. You push a button in order 
to push a button. — John Holmstrom 




Thrust, fire, laser, rotate — some people might think you're talking about an orgy. 



60 VIDEOGAMES 



rections. The Video Command is at its 
best when asked to perform simpler 
tasks, such as negotiating the open 
spaces of Berzerk; it just doesn't take 
the narrower passageways and sharp 
turns in Pac-Man very well. For 
gamers who are looking for comfort 
and have a light touch, this stick is for 
you. 

If you're short on cash, though, you 
might want to check out Spectravi- 
sion's Quik-Shot— an attractive joy- 
stick at a terrific price ($13.95). This 
stick's contoured handle feels great. 
Unlike Wico's controls, its two fire 
buttons are active simultaneously so 
you don't have to flick a switch to 
move from one to the other. It also has 
a feature that makes one-hand control 
especially easy: Its base has removable 
suction cups that hold it tight onto any 
smooth surface. There's one other 
unique feature: When the stick moves, 
it produces a clicking noise that gives 
the player some indication of his posi- 
tion by sound. Quik-Shot does have 
one drawback: It is not nearly as good 
at imitating the smooth, silky feel of 
the arcade sticks. But, then again, the 
price is right and the play is fine. 

At the other end of the price spec- 
trum is the Game Mate II. At $100 a 
pair you bring home a true joy — a 
wireless joystick ! ( Look M a, no cords . ) 
You can sit 20 feet away from the 
receiving unit and not worry about 
people tripping over ugly wires while 
you're in the middle of a game. For this 
feature alone. Game Mate II is one of 
my favorite replacement sticks — even 
though it plays and feels exactly like 
Atari's. 

Meanwhile, one record industry- 
Zircon's Video Command 





Cynex's 
Game Mate II 



related company— Discwasher — has 
decided to fight fire with fire. It has 
produced an effective, inexpensive 
($12.95, plus a $2 rebate) joystick, 
called the Point Master, containing a 
comfortable, bar-like button on top of 
the handle for one-hand use. Unfortu- 
nately, the base has no grips and can be 
particularly painful on your left thumb, 
which tends to rub up against the 
sharp plastic ridge that borders a re- 
cessed, circular well where the lever is 
connected. A redesign would make 
Discwasher's joystick an excellent buy. 

Now for some of the losers. In the 
hype and overkill department, Sun- 
com takes the prize. It calls its new 
Starfighter control ($16.95) the ulti- 
mate joystick. In reality, it's the least 
comfortable of the bunch — a real stick- 
in-the-mud. Its square-shaped base has 
no grips on the bottom, so you must 
hold it with one hand while manipulat- 
ing the stick with the other. The base is 
not easy to grip either — at least it 
wasn't for me. The stick itself is a short 
cigar-shaped lever that I found ex- 
tremely uncomfortable to hold. The 
stick does employ very short, stiff 
throws that, for the most part, move 
objects very responsively. But this 
doesn't make up for the discomfort. 

Suncom has also introduced Slik 
Stik. a cheaper version of Starfighter 
that sells for $9.95 and employs a 
thinner lever with a small red ball on 
top. But believe me, Slik Stik is no 
improvement over its more expensive 
cousin. 

Another disappointment is a $29.95 
control put out by G.A.M.E.S., the 
huge California-based mail-order 
house. Super Joystick, one of the first 



to hit the market, is unattractive and 
uncomfortable and can't compete with 
some of the newer models that cost 
half as much. The black plastic ball on 
top of a steel shaft is too small to be 
easily gripped, and the stick's large, 
cube-shaped, black base is tough to 
hold. For the price, it lacks important 
features — no base grip and only one 
tiny fire button at the left corner of the 
stick. Since it has a year's warranty, it 
may have lasting power. But take my 
advice: Look elsewhere for a replace- 
ment stick. 

Using joysticks, of course, is not the 
only way to play video games, though 
for maze games they are definitely the 
way to go. In some shoot-'em-ups, a 
button controller can be more effec- 
tive. The Starplex Video Game Con- 
troller ($29.95) is an attractive, five- 
button console that has a feature not 
available on any of the joysticks — an 
astroblast switch that provides rapid- 
fire. I found the VGC helpful in avoid- 
ing fatigue, especially in games where 

Discwasher's Point Master 




you move your shooter along a horiz- 
ontal plane. It's a real plus, for exam- 
ple, in Atlantis. Instead of having to 
jerk the joystick and hold it in an 
uncomfortable position when switch- 
ing anti-aircraft guns, you can switch 
much faster with the touch of a button. 
Now, when you employ the astroblast, 
those evil Gorgans really don't stand a 
chance. In fact, my score went up an 
average of 10,000 points wth the VGC. 
Take that, Gorgans! 

KY Enterprises of Long Beach, Ca. 
produces the Fingertip Controller 
($19.95), a much less attractive fire 
button console with no astroblast. 

VIDEOGAMES 61 



KY's Fingertip Controller 



Starplex's Video Game Controller 



Suncom's Starflghter 




Four buttons are placed in a diamond- 
shaped configuration on the right- 
hand side of the brick-like black box; a 
red fire button is situated in the top left 
corner. Unlike the VGC, this system is 
designed for one-handed use except 
for firing. I suppose a piano virtuoso 
might adore the Fingertip Controller, 
but for me it would take an awful lot of 
practice to achieve success in any game 
that involved more than just moving a 
shooter from side to side. However, the 
K.Y controller does provide eight-way 
movement when two buttons are 
pushed simultaneously. 

One major criticism of these button 
controllers: Even if you are a button- 
pushing wiz, some of these controllers 



can only give you four-way directional 
movement while every joystick pro- 
vides at least eight-way movement. 
Games that require a great deal of mul- 
tiposition movement, such as Berzerk 
and Star Voyager, just won't play right 
with button controllers. 

Using a trackball is another option. 
The one and only presently on the 
market is manufactured by Wico(who 
else?) — a home version of the com- 
pany's terrific trackball that is partly 
responsible for the great success of 
Centipede. If you love Centipede and 
have an Atari 400 or 800 computer, the 
Wico trackball is a must— even at the 
steep price of $69.95. Other games that 
work well with the trackball are Mis- 



sile Command, Empire Strikes Back, 
Demon Attack and Threshold. One 
important note: Maze games do not 
play well with a trackball. 

What kind of controls are we likely 
to see in the future? Ed Black, one of 
Wico's top engineers, says that as 
games become more diverse, a wider 
selection of joysticks will be needed. 
The day may come soon when each 
game will come with its own con- 
troller. This is already happening— the 
chief example being Atari's Star Raid- 
ers, which is equipped with its own 
button console. 

Whatever happens, one thing is cer- 
tain: The days when you took your 
joystick for granted are over. ▲ 



Wico's Trackball 




62 VIDEOGAMES 



KY Designs Controllers for the Disabled 



Ken Yankelevitz cares so much 
about people he's designed a line 
of game controllers for the handi- 
capped. A flight systems engineer at 
McDonnell Douglas in Long Beach, 
Calif., Yankelevit? sells the control- 
lers at cost under the name KY 
Enterprises. 

Models 103 and 104, for instance, 
are specifically for quadriplegics. 
Both come with a joystick, "puff 
switches for firing, game select and 
reset, and tubing that must be con- 
nected to the Atari VCS in order for 
this mouth-operated device to work 
correctly. KY will either send you 
wiring instructions or make the modi- 
fication free of charge as long as you 
mail in the unit. 

It was former Olympic volleyball 
player Kirk Kilgour who got Yan- 
kelevitz started. Paralyzed from the 
waist down after suffering a spinal 
cord injury, Kilgour asked if McDon- 
nell's hospital engineering depart- 
ment could devise a mechanism that 
would allow him to play his VCS. 
Unable to do so, the department for- 
warded the project to Yankelevitz. 
Four months later, Kilgour was play- 
ing games again, thanks to the mouth- 
operated controller. More recently. 
Yankelevitz donated or loaned over 
100 controllers to individuals and 
institutions in Southern California. 

"Bless Ken's heart," says Mickey 
Christianson, a therapist at Rancho 
Los Amigos Hospital in Long Beach. 
"He comes here on weekends and at 
night to help our patients. His con- 
trollers give our paralyzed patients a 
chance to do some of the things other 
children can do." 

Says Yankelevitz: "Kids who have 
spinal cord injuries not only suffer 
acute depression, but become very 
withdrawn. Video games bring them 
out of their shells and are used as an 
incentive to get them to cooperate 
with therapists. Also, when a child 
suffers a catastrophic injury, friends 
and family find it difficult to relate to 
him, but with the controllers they can 
now compete on an equal level. This 
breaks down a lot of the barriers." 

Another KY design is a button 
controller for arthritis and cerebral 
palsy victims that requires a very soft 
touch. "1 originally designed it for 
those people whose illnesses make 
quick wrist response with joysticks 
impossible," Yankelevitz explains. 




"Ironically, many normal people are 
using these controllers (Models 101 
and 102) because of the quick release 
you get over a joystick. In fact, for 
games like Donkey Kong it's much 
easier to position yourself under the 
ladders. With joysticks, there's a ten- 
dency to overshoot the ladders." 

Yankelevitz feels that modified 
game controllers are just the first step 



Yankelevitz assists handicapped 
child with mouth-operated 
controller (shown above). 



in bringing the handicapped closer to 
computers. "When a quadriplegic 
masters the use of the mouth con- 
troller he can learn how to use a 
computer. This will eventually open 
up a whole new world for the quadri- 
plegic," he says. 

For more information write: KY 
Enterprises, 3039 E. 2 St.. Long 
Beach. Calif. 90803. — P.G. 



mu&& 




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VIDEOGAMES 63 



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M-Of* 




The Amusement & 
Music Operators Associa- 
tion (AMOA) invites its 
members to Chicago each 
November to view the 
new crop of coin-op 
machines exhibited by 
the industry's manufac- 
turers. There are juke- 
boxes, pool tables, slots, 
and kiddie rides to see, 
but the main attractions 
are video and pinball. The 
AMOA is the Cannes Film 
Festival of the arcade 
scene. 

The 1982 show, held 
Nov. 18-20, was probably 
the most crucial AMOA 
convention since the 
video boom began three 
years ago. With operator 
skepticism high due to 
declining profits in recent 
months, everyone was on 
the lookout for the Big 
New Game, aka: Some- 
thing Totally New and 
Different. 

Most operators seemed 
dismayed by what they 
saw. I think their problem 
was that there were so 
many great new games, 
they knew they'd have to 
buy some. At $3,000 per 
machine, I guess that 
could be a problem. 



[CROwJv SCEI4E ASSETS tl t)-fetOt4<* 



VIDEOGAMES 65 



<%SB> ■uEK] KB?, 



©Q*lert 

©GOTTLIEB 




The most unusual and exciting game 
at the show. The concept of jumping 
around the pyramid of cubes is sim- 
ple but challenging. No operator 
dared to walk away without buying at 
least one. 




©SEGA 



A gorgeous, rolling 3-D 
game that deserves the' 
moniker "Space Turbo." 
The high-quality graphics, 
fast and furious action, 
and Buck Rogers shtick 
should find a home with 
video space jockeys. Say 
goodbye to Galaga — 
shoot-'em-ups will be 3-D 
from now on. That's a 
promise! 



d 



5) miLLiPEdE 



WSrr^ 



©ATARI 



lm& 






d you re 



PAC 

WAkl 



©BAUL7/MIDWAV 



PLi* 

Converts old, boring Pac-Man cabinets into a more 
exciting and difficult game. It's the original maze with 
new color schemes. The menu features cokes, martinis, 
peas, grapes, and other strange stuff instead of fruits 
and keys. Not all of the ghosts turn blue once a power 
pill is eaien; sometimes they become invisible, and 
sometimes the maze goes blank. 



N 

B 
A 

L 





. 



MOPPET VIDEO 

EVER WATCH A LITTLE CHii-D TR-r to PlAV 
PAC-MAN? PRETTY PATHETIC, RIGHT? TUNl'S 
/Aoppet Video is for k»ds who are too 

SHORT To REACH THE CONTROLS AMD Too 
YOUNG To UNDERSTAND THE Q AWE'S CONCEPT. 

A NICE LITTLE IDEA! 



1. Liberator (Atari). Fi- 
nally a sequel to Missile 
Command. 

2. Quantum (Atari). An 
interesting geometric 
drawing concept, but 
requires too much 
work 

3. Sinistar (Williams). Bi- 
zarre sci-fi game with 
special effects worth 
seeing. 

4. Baby Pac-Man (Bally/ 
Midway). Lousy vidi- 
pin experiment. Even 
Pac-Man may not be 
able to salvage it. 

5. Monster Bash (Sega). 
Stars Drac and Frank- 
enstein. Monster- 



lovers will go for it. 

6. Pooyan (Stern). 
Mama pig, little pig- 
gies, and the big bad 
wolf. 

7. Pirate Pete (Taito). 
Jungle King joins the 
Navy. 

8. Domino Man (Bally/ 
Midway). A bag lady, a 
bully, and others try to 
knock down your 
dominoes. 

9. Time Pilot (Centuri). 
War games circa 1910, 
1940,1970,1983, and 2001. 

10. Nibbler (Rock-Ola). 
Like the game Sur- 
round but inside a 
maze. 



9 

O 

o 
o 

3 



66 VIDEOGAMES 





©BAllV/M^wav 

The stupidest, silliest game ever, and that's why you 
couldn't get people off the Burger Time games with a 
crowbar! The music, challenging mazes, and comical 
characters combine to create a game that the public will 
be hungry for. You, the chef, drop burger parts to the 
bottom, as three dancing weenies and an egg chase you 
around. Can't miss— Burger Time's rare 'n' to go! 



©8ALLV/AMPWAV 



Strange, but true. Pac-Man 
gobbles keys to open differ- 
ent parts of the maze, and 
eats burgers, donuts, apples, 
bananas, and so on. Two 
power dots turn him into 
Super Pac, a behemoth who 
can go anywhere on the 
board untouched. A good 
sequel game that asks: Is 
there life after Ms. Pac-Man? 




o Deluxe, if you will. Onl 

ill i ma 
of driving skill tor only thi 
video game road^t 



II^SS ©WILLIAM 




The best pin game in a 
long time. The sounds 
are straight from 
fender video, and 



thanks to a big mutha 
speaker built into the 
back cabinet. There's 
plenty to shoot at, great 
flipper action and tl 
are even smart bombs! 






©SEGA 



So^dped^p 2f)o?on for everyone who thought the origi- 
na'Lwas too slow. Has more action, cleaner and sharper 
graphics, and a tunnel (instead of boring space) to enter 
after your ship leaves the Zaxxon base. About twice as 
fast as Zaxxon. Plus, it plugs right into old Zaxxon 
cabinets! 



CTT=^T 








1. Rescue (Stern). Bad 
copter/shark game. 

2. Pengo (Sega). Ugly 
penguin shoves ice 
blocks at dumb- 
looking sno-bees. 

3. Dark Planet (Stem). 
Asteroids with 3-D 
slant that doesn't work. 

4. Anteater (Tago). 
Aardvark eats bugs out 
of an anthill. 

5. Hard Hat (Exidy). 
Want to play a game 
whose object is to spell 
out the name of the 
manufacturer? Not me, 
pal. 

6. Mr. F. Lea (Pacific 



Novelty). Pointless bug 
game. 

7. ZZYZZYXX (Cinema- 
tronics). Great name, 
but that's about it. 

8. Wiping (Nichibitsu). 
Vacuum the rug, kill 
the bugs. 

9. Macho Mouse 
(Tuni). Another great 
name, but where's the 
game? 

10. Frontline (Taito). A 
war game with a lot of 
potential, but also with 
a firing mechanism 
that's so difficult to 
maneuver it ruins the 
game. 




ASTRON BELT 



a large screen science fktion space 
shooting game that's placed against 
film Footage of spaceships, planets, 

AND EXPLOSIONS! FOR MANT PLACERS, THIS 
IS THE ULTIMATE VlOEO GAME! FRoM SE6A- 
\T SHOULD 8E IN THE ARCADES v4rTH»M THE WEAR'. 



VIDEO GAMES 67 




PRESIDENT PART/ 




nammmm 

Bally Midway, the people 
who own Pac-Man, threw 
a bash in the Grand Bal- 
lroom of the Hyatt 
Regency Hotel that was 
unbelievable! As the offi- 
cial representative of 
VIDEO GAMES, I felt it 
was my duty to sample as 
much as I could, includ- 
ing the free Mr. and Ms. 
Pac-Man pinball game on 
display. 

I've been to a lot of 
press parties in my day, 
but nothing surpassed the I 
spread Bally put out. If 
you think the video game 
business is in serious 
trouble, forget it! Go to a 
rock music press party if 
you want to see a busi- 
ness on its way out. 




MOST OF THE GAME MANUFACTURERS HIRE 
SEAUTlfUL MODELS To SHOW OFF THE GAMES 
BUT THET WERE SO SEXY IT WAS HARP 
to KEEP "JOUR MIND OM THE MAC HINES! 




SOME oF THE WEIRD CHARACTERS I MET... 



fSEAH, THE.^ iMVlTE US OUT \ 
To THESE THINGS SO WE CAN 
STEAL TrtEiR GAMES! HA! HA! 
we'«e Q01CK16 KHkkoFF ARTiSTSli 



USTRort BELT?^ 
it'll NEVER 
Work' Those 
HEADPHONES.' 
rm BE THE 
FIRST THING 
THAT THEK«DS 

RtP OFFff 

» '/7/< 




I TELL VA, THAT* 
8&6i PAC-r\AN»SA 

BomSIarealDog! 
SEGA'S C»oT So^E 
NICE STUFF, 8UT 
K>DS BREAK off 
T.AE HANDLES TO 

those ZAxxoM 
UM'-VS?Q#8ERT5 
KiCE, BUT 6oTT U c6 
NEVER HAD A GOOD 
VIDEO BEFORE/ 
\\)uMmo vJHAT 
I'M GOMMABuV... 



The Got at the Booth 
with the worst games 



AH ARCADE 
DISTRIBUTER 




AN ARCADE 
OWNER 



SUDDENLY ..IT WAS OVER! 



STURDY STEVE 8L00M ARRIVED 
ON THE LAST DAY AND \ TRIED 
To SHOW HiM THE BEST GAMES! 



C'MoN.Vou'. )jrjCT< 
SHOWTS OVERj/ JJg ' 

MORE', 




STEVE, I AM SO TiRED I DON'T 
TWNK I COULD PiAT ANOTHER 
GAME IF MS LIFE DEPENDED 

OM IT.' WHEW/ 







68 VIDEOGAMES 



New Games From Weil-Known Names 



By Phil Wiswell 



There's no need to tell you that the 
TV-game business is buzzing these 
days. Everyone from Parker Brothers 
to Quaker Oats is scrambling for a 
piece of the silicon pie. Even if 1 
wanted to, 1 couldn't review all the new 
games that arrived in the mail this past 
month — unless, of course, the editor 
offered me the whole issue to do so. 
(He refused.) Consequently. 1 am lim- 
iting this month's column to new car- 
tridges that were either licensed or 
spun off from another product. 

Silver Screeners 

One trend this year has been the 
creation of video games based on pop- 
ular film titles. Witness Tron and The 
Empire Strikes Back. Add to the list 
two new Atari releases — E.T. and 
Raiders of the Lost Ark. 

E.T. offers an unusual twist: This 
time vow play the part of the alien. The 
action follows the plot of the movie: 
E.T. (you) has to assemble the parts of 
a phone designed for intergalactic calls. 
As you move through the six different 
scenes, be careful not to fall into the 
wells — getting out will cost you energy — 
so try to memorize the order in which 
the four horizontal scenes appear. 
Going north out of any well places you 
in the forest (which is where the space- 
ship abandons E.T. to begin the game 
and where you must meet the space- 
ship to take E.T. home). Going south 
out of any well lands you in a scene 
showing three buildings— the F.B.I., 
the hospital, and Eliot's house. 

Each scene contains several differ- 
ent zones, represented by a symbol at 
the top center of the screen when you 
are in one. For example, in a "find 
phone" zone, one of three pieces of the 
telephone can be found simply by acti- 
vating E.T.'s power (press the con- 
troller button). While in the "send 



back" zone, E.T. can drive away the 
doctor who tries to take you away for 
observation (costing you time) and the 
F.B.I, man who tries to steal pieces of 
your phone. The "call Eliot" zone lets 
you do just that. E.T.'s best pal comes 
out and retrieves candy pieces you 
have picked up in the wells, frightens 
away enemies, finds missing parts of 
the phone, and then returns to his 
house and stores your bonus points. 

As you move from one scene to 
another, you'll need to memorize where 




Atari's E. T. game has every kind of zone, 
including one to phone home. 



the important zones are in each. And 
make sure you know the location of 
the landing site. Once you have all 
three pieces of the phone and find the 
"phone home" zone, you have only 
about 1 5 seconds to get to the landing 
site before the spaceship takes off, 
leaving E.T. behind. 

E.T. is really for kids (the littler 
ones). Raiders, on the other hand, is a 
more complex adventure game. Since 
Atari omitted some of the rules in the 
instruction book, be prepared to do 
some quick thinking to solve this game. 

The object of Raiders is, of course, 
to find the lost ark, which is hidden 
beneath one of 18 mesas in the mesa 



field. But you don't just go there and 
look around. Many tasks inside the 13 
different rooms must be performed 
first, such as gathering the dozen objects 
you'll need to recover the ark. 

Some rooms are connected by doors 
or obvious passages, but many times 
you'll think you've reached a dead end 
only to pass into another room — 
either by standing in the right spot or 
by using certain magical items. This is 
where Raiders gets tough. You are told 
that the Black Sheik in the market- 
place will take you to the Black Market 
if you bribe him with the right object, 
but you are not told which object to 
offer, nor exactly how to bribe him. 
You're left with one choice: experiment. 

By all means, don't be afraid to try 
off-the-wall tactics. For example, to 
enter the temple of the ancients you 
must create a doorway. What better 
way to make a doorway than blow 
open a hole with a grenade? It ain't in 
the rule book, but who cares? 

Intellivision Converts 

Only recently have software manu- 
facturers begun releasing games for 
use with Intellivision. and the first four 
come from Imagic and Activision: 
Demon Attack. Atlantis. Stampede, 
and Pitfall. These games are already 
considered among the best cartridges 
designed for the VCS. Let's try 'em on 
for size on Intellivision. 

Demon Attack is Imagic's best-sell- 
ing cartridge to date. As in the origi- 
nal, you control a horizontally move- 
able laser cannon. Stationed on a 
planet's surface, it moves horizontally 
and can fire straight or steerable mis- 
siles at the oncoming winged warriors, 
depending on the game variation you 
select. Keep moving at all times, stop- 
ping briefly to fire at your targets. 
(You can use automatic fire, but you'll 

VIDEOGAMES 69 



do better firing on your own.) But 
don't get caught near an edge of the 
screen — always base yourself near the 
center. 

After destroying eight lines of five 
bombers each in the third wave, your 
laser cannon takes off into space and 
comes to rest just below the demon 
base, which is one of the nicest gra- 
phics ever produced for a TV-game. 
Out of the base pour suicide patrollers 
that look like little seagulls. Eat away 
enough of the bottom of the base with 
rapid-fire, and you get to take a shot at 
the window of vulnerability when it 
passes directly over center screen. 
Don't worry about killing patrollers— 
they aren't worth it. Just go for the 
base itself. And be prepared for a 
wonderful full-screen explosion when 
you finally do hit it where it hurts. 
Then it's back to the planet's surface 
for more battles, only this time the 
birds not only drop laser bombs but 
explosives that mushroom when they 
reach the ground. 

Other than advanced speed varia- 
tions, my favorite in this Demon At- 
tack are the two-player games that 
allow you to alternate control of the 
laser base, which changes color every 



The demon base in Imagic's made-for- 
Iniellivision Demon A i tack is one of the 
nicest TV-game graphics ever. 

four seconds. Each player goes for an 
individual score and can try to put the 
laser cannon in poor position just 
before it changes color. While the VCS 
version is a very good TV-game, this 
one is even better. 

1 magic has also added new details to 
Atlantis. For example, the twin but- 
tons on Intellivision's hand controller 
permit two shots on screen at a time, so 
one can be heading on the long diago- 
nal in one direction while the other 
zooms in on the target at a sharp angle 
from the other side of the screen. 

It takes a while to get the hang of 
Atlantis. And there are lots of sur- 
prises. At one point, dusk sets in. and 
the background turns grey. Then 
black! It's nighttime in Atlantis, and 
now you must seize the brief moments 
when the searchlights are shining to 

70 VIDEOGAMES 



shoot down enemy planes before they 
reach the lowest altitude on the screen 
and begin destroying the city. If you 
make it all the way through, which 
won't happen on your first try, 1 assure 
you. the whole scenario begins anew at 
a more difficult level. The object. 





Nighttime in Imagic's Atlantis will take 
you by surprise. A great shoot- 'em-up for 
Inlellivision. 

therefore, is not only to score points, 
but to see how many days you can stay 
alive. A great shoot-'em-up for Intelli- 
vision. 

There's no doubt that Activision's 
Stampede is a good game on the VCS. 
even though it's tough riding herd on 
six lanes of cows while avoidingskulls, 
roping in the black angus, and not let- 
ting three cows get past your horse. 
You might expect, as I did, that the 
Inlellivision version of Stampede 
would be even harder. It isn't. There 
are only four lanes of cows to herd and 
rope, which makes for longer games 
and higher scores. Not that it's easy- 
just easier. You might also expect bet- 
ter graphics on lntellivision. Not so. 
The graphics are identical. 

You employ the same strategy for 
Stampede on lntellivision as you would 
on the VCS. What you should know is 
how the lanes cycle. Rope in a light 
cow. and a medium one will appear in 




You 'd expect the lntellivision version of 
Activision's Stampede to be tougher than 
the original. It isn 't. 

the same lane. Rope in a medium cow 
and a dark one will appear. Ropingthe 
dark one produces either a skull to 
avoid or a black angus to rope for 



bonus points. The key, however, is in 
knowing that the skulls and anguscs 
alternate throughout the game. ( 1 1 nless 
you let a cow get past you. so ride herd 
tightly.) If the first dark cow you rope 
produces a skull, the next will prod uce 
an angus. and so on. 

Got that? Ok. Now, the first thing to 
do is get a dark cow in each lane, Herd 
the bottom three ahead by touching 
them with your horse and then rope in 
the dark cow in the top lane. There will 
now be two light doggies in that lane. 
Rope them, and you'll see two medium 
ones When you master this stra- 
tegy, try putting the top two lanes 
through their cycles simultaneously 
while herding the bottom two. 

I'm not going to say much about 
Activision's Pitfall for lntellivision be- 
cause it's the same game in every 
respect as the VCS cartridge. It's the 
same nice adventure that takes you 
through 255 different jungle scenes, 
features different obstacles, such as 
disappearing bogs, snakes, scorpions, 
and rolling logs, and requires you to 
find 32 scattered treasures. Under- 
ground passageways work as either 
shortcuts or dead ends, so you've got 
to memorize where each ladder leads. 
But why aren't there any new tricks or 
details in this Pitfall? We all know you 
can do more with graphics on lntellivi- 
sion than on the VCS. So why no 
improvement in Pitfall? 

Arcade Converts 

Ever since Atari licensed Space In- 
vaders for home play, game manufac- 
turers have been lining up for the most 
popular coin-ops. So far, Coleco has 
done very well with such arcade trans- 
lations for ColecoVision as Lady Bug, 
Donkey Kong and Cosmic Avenger, 
But Coleco's coup for this new system 
has to be Zaxxon. As a pilot, you fly 
across alien asteroid fortresses battling 
a myriad of enemies. Push forward on 
the joystick to dive, and pull back to 
climb. Since this is exactly the oppo- 
site of what you do in most flying video 
games, it takes some time to get 
adjusted. 

Navigation is half the battle in Zax- 
xon. You not only have to line yourself 
up with an approaching target, you 
must be on the same altitude as it. You 
can either use the altitude indicator or 
the shadow of your plane (a nice 
touch) to guide you. When you ap- 
proach an obstacle, use your laser fire 
as a crude sort of radar. If the fire 
makes it over a wall, so will your ship. 

Since you can't control the speed of 
your jet, you take on enemies in the 
order that they appear on screen. When 



you pass over the wall at the end of the 
first asteroid, be prepared to take on 
an airborne jet that will try to ram you. 
This is the squadron leader, and it's 
worth plenty of points, so go for it. 
After it passes, you will have to fight 
off a squadron of planes in deep space. 
The screen is black, and you have no 
idea where to position yourself. Stay 
about three-quarters of the way up on 
the left side of the screen and wait for 
them to home in on your position. Fire 
immediately when you see the cross 
hairs appear at the nose of your ship — 
that's your only target indicator. If you 
fire immediately your shot will be on 
target. Then move slightly down and 
to the right to avoid that jet's missile, 
and move back when it passes. From 
this position you should be able to 
clear out the whole squadron. 

When things get quiet, look out for 
Zaxxon, the mighty robot. He appears 
on a second asteroid. Zaxxon can 
move farther to the left on screen than 
your ship, so try to draw him to the 
other side before firing. Aim first for 
the objects on his "shoulders." then try 




Navigation is half the battle in Coleco's 
Zaxxon. If your fire makes it over the wall, 
so will you. 

to deliver a series of shots to his gut. 
The trick to killing Zaxxon (who's 
worth 5,000 points) is to hit him with 
two more shots than the number of the 
level you're playing on. Then it's on to 
the next asteroid. 

Carnival is another of Coleco's li- 
censes and is available for Intellivision 
as well as ColecoVision. As in the 
arcade game, this cartridge is a shoot- 
ing gallery. Three rows of objects — 
ducks, rabbits, owls, numbers, and 
letters— move across the top of the 
screen. Shoot them with your laser 
cannon, which can only move horizon- 
tally along the bottom of the screen. 
U nlike the random shooting you would 
do at a real carnival, there's strategy 
you can use to score high in this game. 

First of all, you're equipped with a 
limited supply of bullets that can only 
be increased by hitting a special target 




Carnival is more than just a great kid's 
game. If you're doubtful, try level four. 

or by hitting the numbers in the target 
rows. Try to hit numbers as soon as 
they appear in order to build up your 
bullet stash. You'll need them. When 
you see a duck in the bottom row, 
shoot it before it begins to float toward 
your supply, which the duck can reduce 
if it makes it to the ground. And, by the 
way, if you hate the soundtrack as 
much as I do, simply waste one shot at 
the musical note and silence the game. 

Concentrate on numbers, ducks, 
rabbits and owls— in that order. When 
you get a chance, shoot out the pipes 
on the pinwheel at the top of the 
screen. But don't shoot any of the let- 
ters you see in the target rows — not 
yet. The letters spell the word "BO- 
NUS," which, if spelled in correct 
order, will give you big points. When 
you have eliminated enough targets to 
give you clear shots at the letters, start 
with the B and work your way to the S. 
Carnival is more than just a great kid's 
game. If you don't believe me then try 
level four. 

Finally, we come to Wizard of Wor 
and Gorf, two VCS-compatible coin- 
op conversions from CBS Video 
Games, a new entrant to the software 
field. Unfortunately, both games are 
not very good. 

Wizard of Wor is definitely the bet- 
ter of the two, largely because it offers 
an option for cooperative play between 
two players who simultaneously roam 



the same maze in search of monsters. 
Initially, five or six burwors appear in 
a maze. Some shoot back, some don't. 
It's best to approach them from behind, 
which seems to catch them off guard. 
As you wipe them out, garwors and 
thorwors appear . . . and then disap- 
pear. (Use the radar screen to track 
their movements.) When you do away 
with these guys, a winged worluck 
appears. It will try to escape in one of 
the two exit tunnels, but if you can 
shoot it first your point values in the 
next maze are doubled— a significant 
bonus. Depending on how he feels 
about your performance, the Wizard 
himself may or may not appear in a 
maze. If he does, you're in trouble. The 
Wizard is lightning fast, fires like crazy, 
and shows up randomly at various 
locations. 

Audibly, this game is exciting, but it 
offers uninspired visuals. If you 
thought Atari's "Flickerman" (Pac- 
Man) was distracting to the eye. these 
monsters will drive you crazy. Any- 
way, once you've played The Incredi- 
ble Wizard, a wonderfully graphic 
game on Astrocade, Wizard of Wor 
(at least on the VCS) just doesn't quite 
make it. Even so, it provides plenty of 
action for less discriminating players. 





CBS ' Wizard of Wor is for the less discrim- 
inating gamer. 



CBS' Gorf is for the least discriminating 
gamer. 

I cannot and will not be so sympa- 
thetic about Gorf, however— this car- 
tridge truly is a dog. Gorf is four shoot- 
'em-up space games in one: Astro 
Battles. Laser Attack, Space Warp, 
and FlagShip. If you're familiar with Space 
Invaders. Astro Battles will be a snap. 
Laser Attack is just a simple version of 
Galaxian. Space Warp is boring. Alien 
ships, one at a time, circle above you, 
and you try to intercept their paths 
with your laser cannon. But Flag Ship, 
the last battle before you return to 
game one. is by far the dullest. Overall, 
the Gorf challenge is pretty weak. So 
are the game graphics. I think CBS 
can, and better, do a lot more with 
future games. Arf! A 

VIDEOGAMES 71 



Interview 



(Continued from page 24) 

at home, and my son is the one who 
plays it the most. But I have more 
problems with him and comic books 
than 1 do with video games. 

Dr. Zimtiardo: I'm not a game player— 
I've played them, but not much. How- 
ever, my son is an addict —he's 20, and 
goes to Stanford. He's done surveys 
and some interviews with other self- 
confessed video game addicts — col- 
lege-aged people who play every day— 
for my studies. I also have two daugh- 
ters, but they're too young to play. 

VG: Finally, what do you foresee as 
the future of video games in our so- 
ciety? 

Dr. Brothers: I don't think they will 
affect our society in the future at all. 
Last year, the rage was Rubik's Cube; 
this year, it's video games; next year, it 
will be something else. 1 suppose the 



next generation of video games will 
require more imagination, because 
now they're rather one dimensional — 
once the eye-hand coordination is 
mastered, there's little else there. 

Mrs. Lamm: Video games are going to 
continue to be part of our future, I'm 
sure. As with anything new, these 
games have bombarded us; they've 
changed the complexion of our com- 
munities. I'm hoping that with video 
games becoming a more accustomed 
thing, there will be more controls set 
by parents. Just as they control, or at 
least monitor, the hours a child watches 
television and the selection of pro- 
grams, they should monitor the hours 
a child plays the games and the selec- 
tion of the actual game. 

Mr. Osborne: 1 think video games will 
continue to advance as an electronic 
form of recreation and entertainment. 
The special quality that video games 
have — the interactive quality — will 
continue to be developed, and it's my 
feeling that we'll see video games and 





























V 








\ 


i *^l 


[1 B 


1 




w« 




_ 


V 


i 



"Being able to 
have some sort 
of diversion 
from the 
oppression of 
reality is very 
necessary — 
video games 
provide that in a 
very special 
way/' 



DON OSBORNE 



other forms of entertainment or rec- 
reation blend together to produce even 
newer forms. We like to think we have 
an entertainment form that can relate 
to any age level and both sexes; poten- 
tially, whole families might go to ar- 
cades together and play games in which 
they act out an entire story, with every- 
body having a different role. 

Mr. Robin: Alvin Toffler was right — 
we're going through a future shock. 
There's a new technology out there, 
and we're just learning to develop con- 
sistent and non-threatening behavior 
in response to it. We've yet to institu- 
tionalize our response to this technol- 
ogy, and in many cases we're thrashing 
about, sometimes in agonized fashion, 
looking for rules to apply. Until we get 
enough people who can behave in a 
comfortable way with video and com- 
puter technology, this old-time moral- 
ity response to video games will 
continue. 

Dr. Zimbardo: Currently, video games 
reinforce learning how to be optimally 
destructive. From my professional ex- 
perience, I think that might have long- 
term negative impact on society. Video 
games put the player in command of 
usually enormous resources, typically 
to destroy some enemy. The question 
is: How much do you want to promote 
that kind of fantasy, especially among 
young males who have very little con- 
trol over anything in their lives? We 
don't know if the fantasy stops there, 
or has long-range effects. The long- 
range impact might be to have a gen- 
eration of males who are reinforced to 
have this kind of cognitive structure, 
which could be dangerous 10 to 20 
years from now. It's a military mental- 
ity, which we already have enough of 
now. 

In a positive vein, it is possible to 
reprogram the games. They could be 
exciting, challenging and visually ap- 
pealing as well as teach the player to 
learn messages that are important to 
make that person a responsible citizen. 
Use the games to teach interdepend- 
ence with other humans, where part of 
the mechanism teaches cooperation, 
sharing and negotiating, and where the 
outcome of the game is not so much 
destruction as salvation. In either case, 
this phenomenon— using new tech- 
nology for immediate electronic feed- 
back — is going to play an important 
role in our lives for years to come. ▲ 






72 VIDEOGAMES 




»1 



Channel F:The System Nobody Knows 



By Roger Dionne 



ack in 1976, Fairchild Camera and 
Instrument produced the first 
TV-game system that would accept a 
never-ending supply of new cartridges — 
a development without which the pre- 
sent state of TV video games could not 
exist. Called "Channel F." it lifted the 
game industry out of the dark ages of 
"dedicated" obsolescence to the new 
frontier of "programmable" aware- 
ness. 

Channel F was followed in rapid 
succession by Bally's Professional Ar- 
cade, RCA's Studio II, Atari's Video 
Computer System. Magnavox's Odys- 
sey 2 and Coleco's Telstar Arcade. 
Atari, of course, stole the program- 
mable show as Bally sold out, RCA 
bowed out and Magnavox and Coleco 
knocked about. In 1980. Zircon Inter- 
national of Campbell, Calif., pur- 
chased the rights to Channel F, 
dropped the price from $170 to $59.95, 
and began manufacturing new cart- 
ridges for it. Recently, however, the 
company announced that it would 
finally abandon production of the sys- 
tem. Several thousand remain in the 
warehouse, for sale only upon request. 

It may seem a bit odd to be review- 
ing Channel F now when it's down- 
for-the-count, but as one misty-eyed 
gamer confided to me recently: "Better 
late than never." And so here goes. 

Hardware 

The compact master component has 
four buttons— marked one through 
four — in addition to a power switch 
and a reset button. To the right of the 
button panel is a slot into which you 
slide the "videocarts." Two games, 
tennis and hockey, are built into the 
system, and one cart, featuring four 
games (Tic-Tac-Toe, Shooting Gallery, 
Doodle and Quadradoodle), is packed 
inside the box. 

The buttons are given unique func- 




GET 'EM WHILE THEY'RE NOT HOT: Zircon wants you to take the last 2.000 
Channel Fs off its hands. For $59.95 only. 



tions, such as time limits— from two 
(button one) to 20 minutes (button 
four) — and speed control (one is the 
slowest, four the fastest). Button three 
can also freeze a game in progress. Not 
only does it serve as a pause, but you 
can change the game specifications 
without altering the score. Button four 
is used, among other things, to extend 
a hockey game into overtime. Pushing 
it adds one minute of play to the game. 
The hand controllers, which tuck 
away neatly in a storage well above 
and to the rear of the button panel, are 
plastic sitcks with trigger-type fire but- 
tons and triangular knobs on top. The 
knobs move like joysticks, twist to 



produce responses in certain games, 
and become an additional fire button 
when depressed. Though it feels fine, 
some players may find the combina- 
tion of several functions into a single 
knob a little awkward. (Incidentally, 
the Channel F controller has been 
modified by Zircon and is being sold 
separately. For a review, see "Rating 
the Joysticks" on page 58. — Ed.) 

Graphically and aurally, the Chan- 
nel F videocarts are somewhat primi- 
tive by today's standards. Indeed, the 
Space War game may be the most 
antiquated game of its kind still on the 
market. That aside, I have to say that 
Fairchild's designers nevertheless 

VIDEOGAMES 73 



managed to create some fascinating 
games, even by today's standards. 

Software 

The 25 videocarts available for 
Channel F score an average interest 
rating (on a scale of one to ten), ac- 
cording to my figures, of slightly over 
three— not too good. On the whole, its 
space, sports and arcade-type games 
are poorly executed while the gambling 
and learning carts are above average; in 
fact. Casino Royale (formerly Casino 
Poker) is the best card game, from 
blackjack to bridge, made for any TV- 
game system. The game is five-card 
draw, and it has all the elements of real 
poker. The screen displays three hands 
of five cards. In the one-player version 
(the better of the two), two of them 
remain face down throughout, while 
the third is turned up when it's the 
human player's turn to act. 

In one long session 1 had with these 
sharks, one of them checked aces up 
after both opponents drew three cards. 
I bet with kings up, whereupon the 
computer player raised. I called and, 
of course, lost the pot. In another 
hand, after I folded a small pair, the 
two computer players re-raised each 
other perhaps half a dozen times. I was 
actually getting excited, wondering 
who had the best hand. When one of 
them finally called, it turned out they 
both had a pair of aces, and the player 
with the king kicker won the pot. 
Later, they went after each other 
again, pushing in several raises until 
finally the computer player, who had 
drawn only one card, folded. He ob- 
viously hadn't caught his straight or 
flush, and I never did find out what the 
winning player was holding. Interest 
rating: 8. 

Another cart to claim an "eight" is 
Dodge-It, a simple but great game. 
You are a blue square confined within 
thick red walls. A ball suddenly enters 
and begins caroming off the walls. It's 
only a pong ball, but it's terrifying. 
You move to the left, the right, up, 
down, dancing to avoid it, but the ball 
keeps coming after you from every 
angle. When it finally hits you, a 
hundred alarms clang inside your head 
as concentric, colored rectangles rip- 
ple out from the center of the screen 
until they consume your cell, turning it 
blood red. 

Once you've figured out how to 
avoid the ball long enough, a second 
rips through the walls, and then a 
third. As many as nine balls can be 
bouncing around at once if you can 
handle it. When the counter, which 
tracks your survival, reaches 1,000, all 



nine balls regroup in the center and 
explode as you sit trembling in the 
corner. It's nightmarish and marve- 
lous. Plus, there are more than 200 
combinations of cell sizes and ball 
speeds randomly programmed into the 
game. 

The last of the "eight" games is 
Robot War, another simple yet chal- 
lenging cart. The materials of Robot 
War are minimal — tiny geometric 
shapes situated on an empty green 
playfield. A square atop two rectangles 
is your man; four red, upside-down Ys 
are the robots, who are. of course, out 
to get your man. There are also electric 
force fields, represented as blue 
squares— the idea is to trick the robots 
into running into them, which takes 
some practice. It's essentially Berzerk 
without guns. 

On the other hand, Whizball, a tho- 
roughly original game, is hockey with 
guns. Instead of paddles in front of 
each player's goal, there are small, 
colored squares capable of firing mis- 
siles. The missiles carom like pong 
balls off the sides of the rink, and have 
the additional capability of destroying 
your opponent's square when hit, 
which puts it out of commission for 
about ten seconds. This is the equival- 
ent of a power play in hockey. Mean- 
while, the other object is to keep the 



Channel F chart 


GAME INTEREST 


SKILL 


RATING 


RATING 


Alien Invasion*** 


4 


4 


Backgammon/Acey Deucy 


O 


10 


Baseball* 


2 


3 


Bowling* 


3 


3 


Casino Royale*** 


8 


5 


Dodge-It* 


8 


10 


Desert Fox* 


3 


3 


Drag Strip* 


4 


8 


Galactic Space War" 


2 


3 


Hangman* 


5 


4 


Lunar Landing* 


2 


7 


Math Quiz I* 


1 


1 


Math Quiz II* 


1 


1 


Maze* 


4 


5 


Memory Match* 


2 


4 


Mind Reader' 


2 


6 


Nim* 


4 


6 


Pro Football" 


4 


2 


Robot War/Torpedo Alley* 


8 


6 


Slot Machine" 


1 


O 


Sonar Search* 


3 


3 


Space War* 


O 


1 


Spitfire* 


3 


5 


Whizball* 


7 


7 


Video Blackjack* 


3 


5 


Key; Ratings are from 1 -70. Asterisks 


indicate price- 'is $18.95. " 


is $23.95, 


and '"is $29.95. 







lumbering red rectangles (as many as 
four) away from your goal area. You 
can only repel them with fire which is 
kind of fun. The first player to score 1 1 
goals wins. 

Though it doesn't have growling en- 
gine sounds and is duller visually. 
Drag Strip requires very much the 
same deftness and touch as does Acti- 
vision's Dragster. The challenge of the 
game is similar: You must not acceler- 
ate so fast that you blow your engine; 
you must shift quickly through four 
gears; and you must cross the finish 
line in the shortest elapsed time, which 
the computer only displays at the end 
of the race. There is a honking, rattling 
sound during the countdown and. 
when the race begins, an eerie silence 
as though it were a dream. You shift 
with your controller and increase 
RPMs by twisting the knob. The cars 
race across the screen eight times (exit- 
ing left, entering right) before the 
competition concludes. 

A few of Channel F's educational 
carts are worth mentioning. Its 
Hangman has more variety than other 
video hangman games and a better 
visual display than most. Perhaps to 
compensate for its limited 160-word 
vocabulary. Hangman features a mode 
that allows you to program in about 30 
words up to ten letters long. And the 
Nim game is infinitely more complex 
than Atari's. 

The Pro Football cart is better than 
the Baseball, but not by much. The 
teams are comprised of six men — four 
linemen and two backs — and you can 
choose from eight formations on both 
offense and defense. Games run 16 
minutes (four per quarter) and you are 
allowed only four downs to move the 
entire length of the field for a touch- 
down. A feeble effort is made to reflect 
the gridiron atmosphere by playing the 
Notre Dame fight song at the start of 
the game and "On Wisconsin" after a 
score. 

Those familiar with Atari's Maze 
Craze will recognize Maze immediate- 
ly. Several options spice the game up. 
such as varying your speed, making 
the maze invisible or cluttering it up 
with barriers. The most interesting 
option, similar to the "robbers" in 
Maze Craze, is the introduction of a 
third square, controlled by the compu- 
ter, which goes for you before you 
reach the exit. The most masochistic 
option is Double Paranoia, a game 
without end and without possibility of 
victory, in which there are mice stuck 
in the maze forever. For video game 
gluttons only. 

Finally, we come to Alien Invasion, 



74 VIDEOGAMES 



what 1 understand was the last cart 
ever designed for Channel F. Would 
you believe this is a Tinker Toy copy of 
Space Invaders? No? How about a 
Pick-up Stix version of Galaxian? 
Surely 1 jest. Alien Invasion offers 
none of the excitement, frenzy or chal- 
lenge of the great Atari original, yet it's 
an amusing diversion, in which with- 
out too much practice you can rack up 
a bushel of points — even if your mis- 
siles travel too slowly. 

The remainder of the Channel F 
games are rated for interest and skill 
levels in the accompanying chart. 

Conclusion 

There are three reasons why one 
would purchase a Channel F at this 
late date: for strictly nostalgic pur- 
poses; as a collector's item; or to play a 
convincing hand of video poker. Poker 
fanatic that I am, I think I'd opt for the 
latter reason, though the other two 
ain't bad either. If you're interested, 
write: Zircon International Inc., 475 
Vandell Way, Campbell, Calif. 95008. 
Or call: (800)227-1617. From Califor- 
nia, call: (800) 772-3545. A 



Feedback 
Results #4 

Favorite Department: Tie between 
Hard Sell and Soft Spot; Favorite 
Feature: Zen & the Art of Donkey 
Kong; What I'd like to see less of: 
Interviews; What I'd like to see more 
about: ColecoVision, strategies, Atari 
800, computer games, video gaming in 
Alaska (most unusual); Favorite Ar- 
cade Games: Tie between Tron and 
Donkey Kong; Favorite Carts: Pitfall, 
Earthworld, Donkey Kong (in that 
order); Favorite Computer Games: 
Star Raiders, Pac-Man, Centipede (in 
that order). 

Only five entries to our first caption 
contest took a prize and they are: 
Mark Anthony, Los Angeles: "Stupid 
date. She's been playing the demo 
pattern for an hour!" Ian Brown, 
Brooklyn, N. Y.: "We should try it with 
a quarter." G.S. Clay, Skokie, 111.: 
"But, honey, this is our honeymoon. 
Wouldn't sex be more exciting?" "Not 
now, dear — I'm working up a high 
score." J.C. Charter, Ames, Iowa: 
"Uh, honey, it's only the demo." Mike 
Raley, Jr., Gray, Ga.: "Don't do that!" 
We still have some more yo-yo's to 
give away. Anybody care to try? ▲ 




Imagic's Offering 
Couldn't Be Refused 



When you consider that lmagic is 
not yet even two years old, the 
anticipation that greeted its December 
stock offering was nothing short of 
amazing. Also amazing were some of 
the numbers that appeared in the com- 
pany's preliminary prospectus (dated 
November 3): 

• As of September, lmagic had 
shipped "in excess" of 2.5 million 
cartridges. 

• From April to September, the 
company's sales were nearly $35 mil- 
lion, compared with $3.9 million for 
the previous 10 months. 

• In the same two periods, Imagic's 
net income rocketed from $477,000 to 
$6.1 million. 

Not included in the prospectus was 
President Bill Grubb's estimate that 
lmagic cartridge sales may exceed $75 
million in fiscal year 1983 and that by 
1 985 the company could be worth $500 
million. 

Two other factors grabbed the at- 
tention of investors. One was what 
might be called the "pure play" factor. 
Before Imagic's offering, the only way 
to invest in video games was to pur- 
chase shares in a parent company, 
such as Warner Communications 
(Atari), General Mills (Parker Broth- 
ers), Coleco or Mattel. What happens 
if other areas of these far-flung com- 
panies are not making money like the 
video game properties? Price/earn- 
ings multiples suffer, of course. This 
can't happen with lmagic. 

The software company also has an- 
other advantage: It produces no hard- 
ware of its own. lmagic can only be 
hurt by the quality of its games, not by 
having backed a losing hardware sys- 
tem (Astrocade's fate). Clearly, in- 
vestors prefer the fewer risks involved 
in the software business. 

However, due to the sudden market 
decline in mid-December, lmagic post- 
poned its offering until early in '83. 
According to a spokesperson, Warner 
Communications' earnings drop and 



subsequent stock slide "caused un- 
settled feelings" at lmagic. "It's not in 
our best interest to go out now," the 
spokesperson said. 

Why was lmagic planning to go 
public at all? Simple. The video game 




lmagic 's president BUI Grubb predicts his 
company will sell more than $75 million 
worth of cartridges in fiscal "83. But will he 
ever become the $34 million man the 
offering would make him? 

business is crowded with conglomer- 
ates thai have immense amounts of 
financial muscle. For a smaller com- 
pany, one sure way to fight future bat- 
tles is to increase your net worth and 
capital base. Going public would im- 
mediately accomplish this. Imagic's 
offering also would enable the com- 
pany to attract additional talent while 
keeping key personnel happily at work. 
Indeed, based on the stock's original 
offering price ($ 1 5 to $ 1 7), at least nine 
employees are slated to become instant 
millionaires. Bill Grubb alone would 
walk away with approximately $34 
million. — David Leibowitz, V.P., 
American Securities Corp. 

VIDEOGAMES 75 




Thar's Gold 
In Them Thar Games 



The place: Bermuda. The date: Nov. 
14, 1982. The event: Imagic's De- 
fend Atlantis video game contest. 

It was high noon at the Southamp- 
ton Princess Hotel when the four "sur- 
vivors" of Imagic's nationwide Defend 
Atlantis competition met in the King 
Charles Room for a shoot-off that 
would leave one of them $ 1 0.000 richer. 

Andrew Levine, 15, of Needham, 
Mass., Alan Garay, 1 7, of Flemington, 
N.J., Jerry Goulette, 37, of Daven- 
port, Iowa and Thomas De Noia, 18, 
of New York City, had joined thou- 
sands of others in sending in photo- 
graphs of television screens displaying 
their highest Atlantis scores. Imagic 
tabulated the results and flew the four 
highest scorers to Bermuda for the 
hour-long battle. 

When it was over Levine held the 
title of champion and walked away 
with the Lost Treasure of Atlantis 
prize — $10,000 in gold. His high score: 
1,968,800. Dennis Koble, the Atlantis 
game designer, described Levine like 
this: "He's an exceptionally quick ana- 
lyst of the game program and devised a 
strategy to achieve the maximum 
points per minute that the game pro- 
gram would allow. Then, he simply 
worked out a play technique to optim- 
ize the strategy." Levine had owned 
the game only four-and-a-half weeks 
and the game console just five months 
at the time of the event. 

Garay placed second with 1,369,200; 
Goulette, third, with 1,123,900; and 
De Noia, fourth, with 1,034,500. The 
runners-up each received $1,000. In 
all, Imagic gave away $40,000 in pri- 
zes, including snorkling gear for 1,254 

top-scorers. 

* * * 

SOLID GOLD: Another video gamer 
whose playing efforts paid off is 10- 
year-old Tony Scardigno, of Weehaw- 
ken, N.J., who took home a pound of 
gold (worth $6,000) in Magnavox's Pick 
Axe Pete Pick-Off contest. The event, 
held on Oct. 8 at the 1982 World's Fair 



in Knoxville, Tenn., brought five con- 
testants together for three 15-minute 
rounds. Their two highest scores were 
averaged for the final results. 

Scardigno came through with 938 
points, just squeaking ahead of sec- 
ond-place winner George Floid, 15, 
Rogersville, Tenn., who accumulated 
925 points. The other winners were: 
Bryan Schumacher, 14, Trenton, Oh., 
757 points; Michael McKim, 12, Alex- 
ander, Ark., 589 points; and Jody 
Schumacher, 1 1 . whose brother placed 

third, 374 points. 

* * » 

PAC-ING IT IN: The two contestants 
of the Alamo KOA Kampgrounds' 
Pac-Man contest, held in San Anto- 
nio, Tex., on Oct. 21, took home a 
25-pound bale of popcorn laced with 
peanuts and Cracker Jacks and a dozen 
bananas. Since the participants were 
circus-trained elephants, they were prob- 
ably quite pleased with the prizes, 
though neither would talk to the press. 
In the first pachyderm-only video 
game contest, celebrating the opening 
of the Galaxy 1 Fun World Center at 
the grounds. Dumbo and Jumbo 
manipulated the game controls with 
their trunks and, according to Al 
Rohde, President and Chief Executive 
Officer, "You've never seen such duck- 
ing, dodging, eating, and scoring in 
your life." In the end. Dumbo lum- 
bered off the first-place winner. 

* * * 

NOT FOR ELEPHANTS ONLY: Last 

summer, from June 14 to Aug. 29, Six 
Flags sponsored a national Ms. Pac- 
Man Tournament in its six amusement 
parks across the country. The regional 
winners were flown to Hollywood where 
the finals were played before a live 
audience on ABC-TV's That's Incred- 
ible! program. Tim Collum, a 20-year- 
old student of geology at Steven Aus- 
tin University and a resident of Boyd, 
Tx., racked up 123,860 points, laying 
claim to the title and $5,000 in prize 
money. — Sue Adamo 



Double Speak 

(Continued from page 10) 

fringement of its copyright. Coleco. of 
course, believes otherwise. Stay tuned. — 
Ed. 

Jus' Wonderm' 

Does Coleco have home rights to Pac- 
Man? They did make the tabletop ver- 
sion, so I'm wondering if they can 
make a Pac-Man cartridge for Coleco- 
Vision like they did with Donkey 
Kong. 

Mark Grossi 
La Grange. 111. 

Nope. But Coleco does offer two good 
maze games. Lady Bug and Mouse 
Trap. — Ed. 

Addresses Unknown 

Some of our designers thoroughly en- 
joyed your recent article "Program- 
ming for Dollars" (December issue). 
Unfortunately, it did not mention how 
Joel Billings of Strategic Simulations 
or Doug Carlston of Broderbund can 
be contacted. Could you please for- 
ward these business addresses? 

Michael O'Hasson 

Simulation Design Labs 

Oklahoma City, Okla. 

For Strategic Simulations: 465 Fair- 
child Dr., Suite 108, Mountain View, 
Ca. 94043; for Broderbund: 1928 
Fourth St., San Rafael. Ca. 94901.— 
Ed. 

Rating Book Beat 

I had a book published by Scholastic 
Books in October titled How to Win at 
Video Games. It's a big hit. It went 
back to press in November and I'm 
sure it will again after the first of the 
year. Only Scholastic's book on E.T. is 
doing better this fall. That's why I was 
surprised to read the way your maga- 
zine panned the book (Book Beat, Jan. 
issue). I think the problem was that 
your reviewer had no idea what my 
audience was — kids who are 10 to 14 
years old and live in a suburban con- 
text. About the only time they get to 
play a coin-op game is when one of 
their parents drives them to a mall. II I 
had done the book your reviewer 
seemed to have wanted me to do, I'd 
still be working on the revisions. 1 
mention this because I have two other 
books about video games under con- 
tract, and they're both juveniles. If 
they're reviewed by VIDEO GA MES, 
1 hope your reviewer will take that fact 

into consideration. 

George Sullivan 

New York. N.Y. 






76 VIDEOGAMES 



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A revolutionary breakthrough! Only 
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sights, sounds and challenge. Unlike 
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NoTV set needed! Real arcade controls 
too: a 360° self-centering joystick and 
four action buttons put power-packed 
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An arcade full of favorites! 

The fast-paced fun of Mine Storrri'rs built 
' the Vectrex console 




real arcade variety, plug in Vectrex car- 
tridges like Berzerk," Scramble 1 , Rip Off 1 
and Armor Attack. 1 Or choose exciting 



'Vectrex games like Clean Sweep," 
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Convince yourself! 

Compare the Vectrex Arcade System 
with any ordinary home video game 
system . You'll discover why most Atari 
and Intellivision players say Vectrex 
plays more like real arcade games than 
their own systems! 



Brings Real Arcade Play Hoi 




'Based on ar.i: 'Atari* 

trademarks o< Alan. Inc Martel KI«jonics" and I 

cJaiv' 




Words/Lou Stathis 
Visuals/Matt Howarth 



1983 Howarth/ Stathis 
Mach 12.82 





Welcome, 
recruits. Please 
accept my 
apologies for the 
rude manner of 
your abductions, 
but I'm afraid the 
situation doesn't 
allow us the lux- 
ury of politeness. 



I Yes, a humanoid biped 
of all things. 
Quite a surprise, eh? 
1 \iiil . 



c^VO? 



You see, our universe is 
under attack by a 
nameless, faceless 
menace of awesome 
power and an un- 
quenchable thirst for 
destruction. Their aim 
is the heat-death of our 
universe. Their weapon 
is entropy, against 
which we've been 
helpless ... until now. 

Quite literally, 
fellow beings, 
the fate of the 
universe is in 
your hands. 



78 VIDEOGAMES 




The Zydroid Deep Space 
Personal Combat Capsules 
-with you cyber-linked as 
pilots-can help turn back 
this tide of chaos. By 
mastering the simulator's 
final and most difficult 
program-level 9-you have 
all proven yourselves ex- 
ceptionally qualified to 
meet this challenge. My 
congratulate 



Level 9? But I never 
broke 4! They 
must've got me in- 
stead of my 
brother. That chili 
doq the machine 





Level 10! I've gotta 
penetrate this 
machine and find 
out what happened 
to my kid brother. 



tt — n 1 — 

Wow, I'm gonna 
save the universe. 





Level 11- 
think I'm 

|gonna 
»ake it! 





TIT 



I'm gonna save 
the universe! 




F 





Or is he? 




Will he survive? 




VIDEOGAMES 79 



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COMING 
ATTRACTIONS 

FOR APRIL ISSUE 



The Consumer Electronics 
Show reviewed 
A visit to EPCOT 

• The real story about 
Astrocade 

• Do games go better 
with Coke? 

Dr. Video takes a 
look at radiation 
A coin-op quiz for 
real gamers 
We test-drive the 
Timex-Sinclair 1000 
j and much, much more! 

ON SALE 
MARCH 1st 




Atari v. Coleco & I magic; 
This Means War! 



Seldom do shots resound as loudly 
in the video game world as those 
fired by Atari and Coleco last Decem- 
ber. First, Atari announced it was 
charging lmagic with infringing upon 
its rights to the game Phoenix with the 
popular Demon Attack cartridge. 
Then, nine days later, Atari sued Cole- 
co for patent infringement and unfair 
competition regarding the much-pub- 
licized hardware adaptor (Module #1), 
which allows ColecoVision owners to 
play VCS-compatible software. Coleco 
responded that same day with an anti- 
trust suit against Atari. The total 
numbers involved in the latter suits is 
$850 million. 

Though lmagic has. at presstime, 
yet to countersue, it called the Atari 
allegation "completely without merit." 
When asked to explain why Atari 
waited nearly nine months to chal- 
lenge Demon Attack, an lmagic 
spokesperson deferred to Atari's legal 
staff, none of whom were available for 
comment. One independent lawyer 
speculated that Atari had been waiting 
for "damages" to accrue. Others in the 
industry, however, insist there was no 
coincidence between the timing of 
Atari's suit and Imagic's public stock 
offering. lmagic subsequently post- 
poned the offering. 

At issue is the Intellivision version 
of Demon Attack, which contains a 
"mothership" reminiscent of the one 
found in the Phoenix arcade game. 
Atari owns the TV-game rights for 
Phoenix, which it purchased from 
Centuri more than a year ago. The 
Phoenix cartridge is scheduled to be 
released in May. 

The Atari-Coleco battle raises a 
greater question: control of the video 
game business. "Atari is a monopo- 



list." charges Coleco's senior counsel 
Michael Schwefel. "It's a matter of 
what Atari will do to maintain its dom- 
inant position." Claiming that Atari 
hasn't "done its homework" concern- 
ing Module #1, Schwefel predicts: 
"They're going to end up saying, 'Oops, 
we're sorry!' " Atari, on the other 
hand, has stated that the module is a 
VCS in disguise. Two patents, for 
sound and motion, are being violated, 
the company says. 

As of this writing. Atari had not 
requested an injunction. The discovery 
process is currently transpiring. 



K.C. STILL AT THE BAT: Though 
North American Philips (NAP) lost in 
its bid to take the K.C. Munchkin- 
Pac-Man copyright case to the Sup- 
reme Court, the company is neverthe- 
less preparing its arguments in favor of 
the game for a trial that may not be 
heard for another two years. The 7th 
Circuit Court in Chicago, the same 
court that last year ordered the preli- 
minary injunction which banned the 
sale of K.C. Munchkin, will hear the 
case. 

Will the decision which supported 
Atari's claim that Munchkin was a 
copy of Pac-Man affect the upcoming 
Demon Attack proceedings? NAI'*s 
counsel Charles Quarton doesn't think 
so. "Phoenix clearly was not the first 
game of its kind," he says, citing games 
like Space Invaders and Galaxian 
which preceded it. "Pac-Man, on the 
other hand, was truly the first maze- 
chase game of its kind." In either case, 
Quarton says that "concepts are not 
protected, expressions are." The Chi- 
cago court treated Pac-Man as an 
"expression." — S.B. 



80 VIDEOGAMES 



Welcome to the Club 

(Continued from page 54) 

another planet. I'm not saying I didn't 
enjoy being the only woman at times, 
but it was certainly bizarre. After 
awhile, 1 just wasn't comfortable, and I 
think it reflected in my work, or lack 
of. 

"Atari was always saying they were 
trying to hire women," Bailey adds, 
"but they said that the percentage of 
women applying was low. 1 don't really 
know why there aren't any more female 
programmers in the business. Maybe 
women are discouraged by the male 
domination in this business." 

Videa also lacks an abundance of 
female programmers, but Bailey isn't 
complaining. Back in the company of 
former colleagues Ed Rotberg and 
Howie Delman, she feels at home. "We 
want to do state-of-the-art games." 
Bailey says. "Games that are funny 
without being sickeningly cute. Just 



really good entertainment." 

But not everyone agrees it's tough to 
be a woman in the video game busi- 
ness. It can even be an advantage, says 
32-year-old Sue Currier, co-partner 
with her husband in Softsync Inc. 

"It's not a sexual thing. It's just a 
change. When I started I didn't know 
anything about the business. Everyone 
taught me. I don't know if 1 were a man 
if they would have taken to that." 

Currier originally came to the U.S. 
from Australia as a model and started 
distributing computer games from her 
kitchen table in between modeling 
assignments. Injust overa year-and-a- 
half, the little enterprise grew into one 
of the main software suppliers for the 
Timex Sinclair 1000. 

Currier believes many female pro- 
grammers are hesitant to submit pro- 
grams. This is a shame, she says. 

"I maintain women can do anything 
they want. Sometimes we're our own 
worst enemies." A 




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VIDEOGAMES 81 



H 



At Home 



Weeks 



;ec.ie 


uec.t 


on Chart 


Title 


1 


1 


13 


Pitfall (Activision) 


2 


2 


15 


Donkey Kong (Coleco) 


3 


9 


3 


E.T. (Atari) 


4 


3 


15 


Frogger (Parker Brothers) 


5 


5 


9 


Megamania (Activision) 


6 


6 


15 


Pac-Man (Atari) 


7 


12 


3 


Raiders of the Lost Ark (Atari) 


8 


4 


15 


Berzerk (Atari) 


9 


15 


4 


RealSports Baseball (Atari) 


10 


8 


15 


Demon Attack (Imagic) 



«1982 by Billboard Publications, Inc Reprinted by permission 
These are the best-selling home video games compiled from 
outlets by the Billboard research department 



The Top 10 
Video Games 

In the Arcades: Number 

January 15, 1983 of Plays 

*1 Joust (Williams) 1024 

•2. Satan's Hollow (Bally/Midway) 960 

'3. Jungle Hunt (Taito) 940 

•4. Moon Patrol (Williams) 868 

5. Galaga (Bally/Midway) 808 

6. Donkey Kong Jr. (Nintendo) 784 
7 Ms. Pac-Man (Bally /Midway) 740 

*8. Tutankham (Stern) 696 

9. Robotron (Williams) 684 

10. Turbo (Sega) 680 

Honorable Mention 

Q'Bert (Gottlieb). Slither (GDI). Sub-Roc 3-D (Sega). 
Tac/Scan (Sega). Pengo (Sega). Burger Time (Data 
East & Bally/Midway). Blueprint (Bally/Midway). 

• 1983 by Play Meter Magazine 
Reprinted by permission. 

These are the top earning arcade games according 
to a poll of operators. Those with asterisks indicate 
operator responses were between 25-50 percent 
The number of plays is a national average per 
machine per week 






Alpine Ski 

Astro Blaster 

Berzerk 

Bosconian 

Donkey Kong 

Donkey Kong Jr. 

Eyes 

Frenzy 

Galaga 

Gorf 

Gravitar 

Jack the 

Giant Killer 
Kangaroo 

Ladybug 

Looping 



High Scorers 

Millipede 



500,774 EricOlofson, 
Antioch, Calif. 
299,100 GusPappas, Moon Patrol 

Napa, Calif. 
119,340 Joel West, Ms. Pac-Man 

Kirksville, Mo. 
907,170 Allen Burdick, Pengo 

Orcutt, Calif. 
3,165,300 Steve Sanders, Robotron 

Kansas City, Mo. 
948,700 Kent Farries, Satan's Hollow 

Calgary, Alberta 
7,947,490 Terry Logsden, Scramble 

Des Moines, Iowa 
4,737,820 Rik Kelly. Star Castle 

Kenosha, Wise. 
10,916,000 Eric Bolduc, Stargate 

Pomona, Calif. 
653,990 Todd Rogers, Super Cobra 

Burbank, Calif. 
4,722,200 Raymond Mueller, Thief 

Boulder, Colo. 
9,401,050 MikeKlaege, Tunnel Hunt 

Lenox, III. 
754,400 Sam Middleton, Tutankham 

Panama City, Fla. 
280,420 Antonio Medina, Warlord 

Napa, Calif. 
1,218,460 Eddie Leech, Zaxxon 

Lenox, III. 



582,629 
577,480 
286,410 
263,860 
169,595,225 
908,885 
999,250 

7,842,950 

70,283,000 

198,470 

3,509,160 
732,910 
244,920 
583,750 

2,138,650 



Leo Daniels, 
Chicago, III. 
Eric Ginner, 
Mountain View, Calif. 
Mike Lepkosky, 
Houston, Tex. 
Mark Robichek, 
Mountain View, Calif. 
Leo Daniels, 
Wrightsville Beach, N.C. 
Darren Olson, 
Calgary, Alberta 
John Norman, 
Wrightsville Beach, N.C. 
Ron McCoy, 
Lakewood, Calif. 
Oscar Iglesias,* 
Concord, Calif. 
Matt Brass, 
Helena, Mont. 
Lloyd Smith, 
New Hope, Minn. 
Mark Robichek, 
Mountain View, Calif. 
Mark Robichek, 
Mountain View, Calif. 
Allen Toney, 
Huntington, W. Va. 
Eric Burch, 
N. Palm Beach, Fla. 






"Iglesias now holds the world's record for most hours on one game— 63 hours. 10 minutes. 
Our thanks to Walter Day, Jr. ol Twin Galaxies for providing us with these latest scores 



82 VIDEOGAMES 



za rdofWor 




So you're hot stuff at video 
games? Joysticks melt in your 
hand? Don't let it go to your 
head. Try mastering Wizard of 
Wor and Gort. the two Bally/ Mid- 
way arcade hits you can now 
play at home They're new lrom 
CBS Video Games. 

Both are made for the Atari* 
Video Computer System'" and 
Sears* Video Arcade.™ 

WIZARD OF WOR 

Dare you enter the Wizard's 
diabolic dungeon where doom 
lurks at every turn? Can you keep 
your composure as the Wizard's 
henchmen try eating you . 
ALIVE? Fight back. Use your 
radar screen 



CZ3 



Vaporize the Burwors. Chase the 
Worluk. 




Until the Ultimate' The sometime- 
visible/sometime-invisible Wizard. 
Trust no one. 

Wizard is designed so two may 
play at the same time. And since 
all's fair in Wor, even your best 
friend can zap you. 

Now we don't want you to freak 
out totally but if you're still up to the 
challenge, top the all-time, high 
score: 99,500 by Frank Merollo 
(10/82) and Buz Pryzby (8/82). 
GORF 

Can you hold up under the 
challenge of four different boards 
in one game? At nine different 
levels? Try and beat the high 
score of 32,700 by Horace Ecker- 
strom (9/82). No sweat? Well, 
what if we told you each level 
was faster than the last? Next 
time you'll think before you 
speak. But now you must face: 




Gorfian bombs. 




Kamikaze crazies & Laser Ships. 




Deadly Subquark Torpedoes. 




And finally: The dreaded 
Neutron Flagship. 

Gorf's not easy There's only ONE 
vulnerable spot on the Flagship. 
But don't let a little neutronium 
bomb stop you from hitting it, 




Now that you know what to 
expect, are you still up to the 
challenge of Wizard and Gort? 



C 1082 CBS Inc Sears' and Sears Video Arcade are trademarks ol Sears Roebuck and Co. Alan' and Atari Video Computer 
Systerr. are trademarks oi Atari Inc "Gorl" and' Wizard ol Wor" are registered trademarks ot Bally/Midway Mia Co 



CBS V lU.© r e chaUen ge? 











rA-S\> 



They're back! The creepy 
crawlers of Centipede ha^/e 
given way to the ultimate 
generation of "nasties" in 
MIL LIPEDE. the all new coin 

adventure fantasy 
from AIAHI I 

You're deep In a mystical 
de of time 
you've got to defend your- 
self from hordes of larqer- 
than-life insects The bugs 
keep coming all K 

The challenge continues. 
The intensity increases. 
Armed only with bow and 
arrows, you— as the "Ar 
Cher"— must fire through a 
field of colossal mush 
rooms to hit the giant Miiii- 



V 






pede who steadily ad- 
vances toward you. 5lngle 
heads shoot out from the 
sides! 5piders, earwigs and 
beetles appear to wreak 
their own special havoc 1 
5uddenly the screen is fill- 
ed with waves of bombing 
bees, dragonflies and 
mosqurtos 1 Your only 
chance is to explode one 
of your DDT bombs! 

Are you ready to battle 
the bugs? Remember you 
risk the sting of defeat 
but to escape the 
challenge is unthinkable. 
Arm yourself Ask for Milli- 
where you play coin 
> games. 




ATARI